Dream A Little Dream
by Dreams-of-Skies
Summary: SG1 embark on a simple mission to check out some ruins on a forest world...yet tragedy strikes...and dreams are not always the sweet things we hope for them to be... Rating may increase in later chapters to T
1. Chapter 1

**Rating:** K/K+

**Characters:** Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, George Hammond...and someone I was given permission to borrow because he was just so cute...you'll see him later on in the story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything but the plot and the OC's and the planet involved - please don't sue me as I have no money!

**Warnings:** will be posted above relevant chapters requiring them!

**Author's Note:** This was my first ever SG1 fic. Ever! For someone who swore never to touch SG fanfic with a bargepole for fear of wrecking it...//looks at her stash on her hard drive and sighs// I'm doomed...trust me when I say that SG1 is the Pringles of the Fanfic World! This is set in early Season 8 folks!

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**Dream A Little Dream…Chapter One**

The familiar voice rang out behind him.

"Jack!"

The figure kept walking.

"Hey Jack!"

One foot briefly hesitated then the figure shook his greying head and pushed on.

"Jack!"

"Oh, for crying out loud." Brigadier General Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes, glanced at his watch and wondered if he was ever going to get off-duty.

"Jack! Wait!"

With a sigh, O'Neill slowly turned round, all ready knowing what he would see, his eyebrow cocking in a 'Now what?' movement that, had the caller been looking, they would have recognised clearly. As it was the lean figure was busy rifling through sheaves of paper, his glasses askew where he had rubbed at his face in agitation.

"Daniel."

Doctor Daniel Jackson looked up at the mild tone, threw O'Neill a half-smile then buried his head back into his paperwork.

"One second."

O'Neill pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Daniel, you have ten seconds to say something of interest then I'm walking." He looked out from under his hand as he added, "I got an appointment with some beers and a night of Halloween _Simpsons._"

"Yeah, yes, I know." Flapping his hand, Daniel ripped a page from the pile and wafted it in O'Neill's face. O'Neill just looked at it. Seeing his expression, Daniel huffed.

"What?"

"Jack, this is important."

"More important than _The Simpsons_?"

Daniel's cobalt eyes held the shadows of exasperation. O'Neill looked at his watch, looked at his friend and sighed again.

"I knew this was gonna happen. Okay, okay…what's the rush?"

Daniel opened his mouth and a stream of historical gibberish poured forth. O'Neill stood there, arms crossed, eyebrow raised, until Daniel stopped to take a breath.

"Daniel…small words. You know, ones I can understand."

"Sorry." Running a hand through his short brown hair, Daniel tried to explain it better, his mind baulking at the idea of simplifying his language. It took him a few seconds to find the right level.

"That piece of paper has a sample of a language that SG-16 found on PX6-W358."

"Right. Well, that was easy."

"Jack." Daniel admonished gently. "This is similar to one of the four languages from the Meeting Place."

O'Neill's face remained blank.

"The Meeting Place. Where we found Ernest. The place where the Four Great Races would meet and discuss the galaxy."

O'Neill still looked blank. Daniel growled.

"The one where we got the Stargate to work by rigging a circuit run off lightening strikes and we barely got out as it crashed into the sea."

"Oh! That Meeting Place." O'Neill clicked his fingers. "Got 'cha."

Giving his friend an annoyed glance, Daniel continued, "Well, I think that what SG-16 found is, possibly, linked with the Meeting Place and could possibly be linked further to the Furlings. In fact, it's entirely possible, from what little I've managed to translate, that this planet was a colony of the Furlings, or at least they were guardians of it's people because I've found at least two different dialects and I'm actually having a little trouble differentiating between the…"

O'Neill held his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa! Okay! I get it. You want to go poke around and see what you can find."

Daniel opened and closed his mouth twice. "Err, yes."

O'Neill shrugged at him.

"Okay…pull a briefing together, give Carter and Teal'c the heads up and I'll see the three of you in the morning." He emphasised the last three words as Daniel looked like he might protest. "Danny-boy, its ruins. They are not going to get up and walk off the planet."

"You're right. Sorry." Daniel tucked the papers under his arm as he straightened his glasses. "It's just…the Furlings. We still know nothing about them and if I'm right then these ruins could be…"

"Bah!" O'Neill shook at finger at him. "Tomorrow. 0930."

"You just want me to go away don't you."

Throwing his hands up, O'Neill pantomimed a hallelujah moment. Getting a slow smile in response, he shook his head, checked his watch and cursed. Catching the raised eyebrow on Daniel's face, O'Neill sighed.

"I'm late."

Chuckling, Daniel backed off.

"See you tomorrow, Jack."

"Yeah." O'Neill grumped. "Yippee."

He just about refrained from punching the elevator door when an unfamiliar voice called out, "General, Sir!"

O'Neill growled.

"It's one of those days."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and the OC's and the planet involved - please don't sue me as I have no money!

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**Chapter Two**

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was engrossed. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, punching out algorithms as if her life depended on it. Which, considering that she was used to saving the world, meant she wasn't working as fast as she probably could, just fast enough to keep her occupied. She didn't look up as the large shadow loomed over her desk, nor did she respond when it quietly cleared its throat.

"Colonel Carter."

She finished tapping away, hit the 'save' button and sat back, her cropped blonde hair in disarray but her aqua eyes gleaming with glee.

"Hey Teal'c."

The Jaffa cocked his head to one side and looked at the laptop on the desk. His right eyebrow twitched and Carter grinned.

"Just some astrophysics calculations I've been working on. You know how it is – once you start a train of thought, you gotta finish it."

"Indeed." Carter was sure she spotted a moment of amusement chase across the dark features but she blinked and it was gone.

She started to shut down the computer.

"And it was really bugging me how just one figure seemed to be out…it's taken me weeks to figure where I'd gone wrong with it. I think I've finally nailed it though." She ran her hands through her hair, tousling it even more. "It's the energy crystals…we're still doing tests on them and although we've had some success with various quartz samples, we really need to find our own supply. I switch back to astrophysics for a mental break."

He stood there, silent. She looked up at him and was once again struck by how restrained he always seemed, as if he were a great predator merely at rest. His dark eyes scanned the room briefly before settling on her face once again and once more there was a little twitch from that eyebrow. Carter sighed.

"What is it?"

"I believe we are expected in the briefing room at 0930."

With a shocked gasp Carter checked her watch. It was 0929.

"Oh hell." She started searching through the mass of paperwork on her desk. "I got so caught up in my work…"

Teal'c reached out and plucked a manila folder from under a couple of physics books. He handed it to her with a slight bow. Carter smiled at him warmly.

"Thanks Teal'c. I'd have been looking for ages."

"Perhaps we should be making our way."

"Indeed." She grinned at him. "Sorry."

He merely bowed again, that momentary flicker of humour flashing in his eyes. As they made their way through the corridors, Carter flicked through the mission proposal Daniel had given her.

"Did you read this?"

"I believe Daniel Jackson has a theory concerning the ruins on PX6-W358."

Carter studied the photocopy of the language glyphs and Daniel's partial translation, oblivious to the various technicians and airmen that ducked out of the pair's way.

"The Furlings."

"Indeed." Teal'c stepped aside for a technician and trolley. Carter suddenly realised they were there and skirted round them with a smile and apology. Teal'c continued, "We have no prior knowledge of the Furlings other than they were one of the Four Races that the Ancients, Asgaard and Nox were also accounted."

Carter's face lit up.

"So, if Daniel is right…"

Teal'c caught her train of thought, inclining his head in acknowledgment as he finished, "If Daniel Jackson is correct, we may find contact with the Fourth Race."

Carter half-laughed.

"It's rare for Daniel to get these things wrong, Teal'c."

"Indeed it is, Colonel Carter. However, I would advise caution. They are an unknown and therefore unpredictable force."

"Teal'c, I'm sure it'll just be another standard re-con."

Before he could respond, Carter reached out opened the door to the briefing area.

"Sorry. Teal'c had to come drag me away from my calculations."

Daniel looked up from where he was leaning over O'Neill's shoulder and pointing at something. He grinned at them.

"That's ok. I needed the extra time to explain something to Jack."

Judging by the look on the general's face, Carter was pretty sure that O'Neill would rather have been shot. When he caught her eye and grimaced, she coughed trying not to laugh.

"Ready?" Daniel had the pointer in his hand and looked eager to get going.

"Sure." Carter slid into a chair, allowing an expression of interest to settle over her face. Teal'c sat opposite her, her features his usual schooled blankness. As the lights went down so Daniel could show his slides, she was sure she saw O'Neill put his hand to his temple and pull an imaginary trigger before assuming his attempt at being interested.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own them but wish I did!

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**Chapter Three**

Daniel clicked through the photographs SG-16 had taken, showing the layout of the ruins, the cover available, the varieties of art and language they had found, only occasionally pointing out the areas he was most interested in. He did so quietly, no in-depth dissection of each slide. He didn't talk continuously or do his usual trick of waving his hands around as he got excited. The other three exchanged glances as the lights came back up. As Daniel opened his mouth to speak, O'Neill got there first.

"Where's Daniel?"

The archaeologist rolled his eyes.

"Jack."

"I'm serious!" O'Neill sat back in his chair. "Where's the jumping around? The waving hands? The 'Oh-my-god-Jack-I-gotta-go-see-this' spiel?"

Daniel slid into a chair as he quietly replied, "Well, I kind of did that part last night."

"Oh." O'Neill looked round the table. "So…Carter! What do you think?"

Repressing a smile, Carter looked down at the brief in front of her.

"Well sir, I think the planet has merit." She glanced at Daniel who gave her a 'thank you' look. "If what we suspect is right, we could find out who the Fourth Race was. I mean, the Asgaard have never told us about them and the Nox…"

"Don't talk to children about adult stuff."

"It's not that simple, Jack, and you know it."

"Yeah, I know. But it's the truth."

Daniel pinched his nose.

"Anyway," He began as he replaced his glasses. "I can't finish translating until I've seen all of the writings. SG-16 didn't get to photo everything and I'm pretty sure I'm missing the middle chapters, which is why I can't make sense of what I do have."

"And sir," Carter leapt in. "I think I saw a reference to energy crystals in Daniel's translations. If that's the case, it might be that we can find out where the crystals came from or even how to grow our own."

"Still no luck on that huh?"

"Why do you think I was late?" Carter and Daniel smiled at each other, having a moment that O'Neill personally and privately referred to as their 'Nerds-r-us'. He slapped his hands on the table, making them jump.

"Ok kids. Saddle up."

"O'Neill?"

"Get your gear, Teal'c. It means get your gear. Remember, we discussed this."

Teal'c cocked his head to one side, that right eyebrow raising slowly as he reviewed his memories. O'Neill slowly shook his head.

"Eight years. Eight years." He muttered. The ghost of a smile crossed Teal'c's lips as the other two team mates suppressed their own amusement. O'Neill made a shooing motion with his hands as everyone else stood.

"Oh, and Daniel?"

Daniel stopped in the doorway, his face quizzical.

"Take a tracker with you."

"Why?"

O'Neill started to grin.

"The number of times you get lost? You need one!"

Daniel sighed, rolled his eyes and briefly debated whether or not to make a rude gesture. He decided to be the better man and simply turned on his heel and walked away. O'Neill stretched in his chair, several of his joints cracking.

"I gotta get out more." He commented to the empty room before slowly getting up and heading into his office. He eyed the pile of paperwork on his desk cautiously. He secretly thought that it bred while he wasn't looking and that's why he could never get rid of it all. He paused before settling into the big leather chair and considered whether he wanted to stay in the base and tackle the pile of papers. Then he looked back through the window and the table he had just been sitting at. He quickly tallied up the number of hours he had spent on paperwork the day before and the number of days it had been since he'd had a day off. With a last look at the demonised paperwork he made a decision.

"Hell." He muttered. "I'm the boss."

With a shrug at air, he stood up, smartly turned round and walked out the door. A cheery look on his face, he almost skipped down the spiral stairs to the command room where Daniel, Carter and Teal'c were waiting, kitted up and holding extras. O'Neill stopped. He looked at them. He frowned. He looked at them again. He looked at the extra gear they had with them. He looked at the team again.

"Am I missing something?"

"Jack, did you think we didn't know you were going to come with us?" Daniel's face broke into a grin. "I saw the pile of paperwork on your desk."

"Ah." O'Neill took the weaponry from Carter. "It's true. There's a lot."

"You have been cooped up in your office a lot lately, sir." Carter handed him his zat.

Teal'c handed him his jacket. "We believe that you are due a rest from your immediate duties."

"You know, I think you're right." As Daniel passed O'Neill his cap and shades, the general suddenly grinned.

"Ok kids, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

**Rating** : K/K+

**Diclaimer:** Do I have to keep telling you all this? Really? They ain't mine!

**Author's Note:** Jackson appears on loan from Phoenix-Cry - for the full story of how a Wulf came to join the SGC, please read _SG1 K-9_ and it's ficlet companion, _Flying Colours_

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**Chapter Four**

PX6-W358 was a pretty planet. The skies during the day had swirls of pink, peach and blue across it and during the night the ozone layer flickered with it's version of Earth's aurora lights. The continent where the Stargate was situated was in early summer and every flower was blooming. Every flower, including the rather large bush that looked like a cross between a buddleia and a fuchsia and was growing right next to the Stargate.

Daniel snatched for his handkerchief as his sneezing echoed across the field. At his feet, a large grey and gold dog watched him carefully.

"Great…that's told everyone we're here." O'Neill stepped forward, his eyes scanning the area automatically. Teal'c mirrored him, his staff weapon loose in his hands. Carter kept her eyes down, trying not to laugh. Daniel managed to look aggrieved even as he blew his nose.

"Not like I can help it." He grumbled, rubbing the tip of his nose and sniffing.

"Yeah, I know. Allergies." O'Neill glanced over his shoulder at him. "And why you had to bring the mutt…"

"Sir, you did say that as long as Jackson passed the training…"

"Carter." There was an implicit warning in O'Neills' voice. Carter avoided snorting with laughter and Daniel put his hand down to the dog.

"Come on, Jack, you did tell me to bring a tracker and aside from Teal'c," Who inclined his head at the acknowledgement of his skill. "Jackson is the best tracker we have."

"It wasn't quite what I meant." With a low growl, O'Neill surveyed the area a second time. "Okay, come on, move out."

It was easy for them to fall into the old pattern – O'Neill took point, Teal'c took the rear, Carter kept her eye out for a side attack and Daniel…Daniel wandered through, his notebook in his hands, scribbling away and muttering to himself as he continued working on the translations he all ready had. Jackson stayed close by him, his golden eyes checking on each member in turn, his mind quite capable of understanding where he had to be. Every few metres Daniel dropped his spare hand to catch a silken ear with the tips of his fingers – it had become a habit the past few months, one that comforted both of them. It didn't take the group long to reach the area where SG-16 had found the ruins. O'Neill couldn't resist commenting.

"What is it with these places? Why is it whenever we find some ruins, we also find a nice little forest clearing?"

Daniel was all ready studying the fallen pillars.

"Well, Jack, it is common back on Earth for cultures to choose protected areas for their most sacred sites. A clearing like this one is typical – it has shade, probably a geographical link to the constellations, and can you feel that? A closeness, an atmosphere if you like."

"Yeah, ok, I get the idea. But all the time?"

"It indeed seems to be a frequent occurrence." Teal'c observed. "Many Jaffa shrines are situated within clearings such as this one and we have often discovered shrines such as this on other planets."

"Exactly, which ties in with my theory as Jaffa were originally descended from humans."

O'Neill looked from one to the other. "And that's important why?"

"I think it's mostly cultural but it could also be tied up with genetic memory. After all, we used to live in deep forests and caves thousands of years ago." His tone distracted, Daniel was busy taking some rubbings, ignoring the way Jackson was watching the chalk. He also missed O'Neill's mumbled comment of "Unless we're you and have a small library."

Daniel turned to look around. "It's possible that humans chose places like this for inspiring comfort as well as awe."

"And if the people that built this weren't human?"

Daniel opened his mouth then paused. With a frown he looked back at O'Neill.

"Well, if they weren't human, then I'll have to change my theory. But I can't really make any suggestions without further study."

O'Neill made an aborted cheering motion. The other men looked at him. He shrugged.

"Sorry but I just knew you were gonna say that." Then he was pushing Jackson down, trying to dodge a loving wash, and saying, "No! I didn't summon you, you walking rug! Geddown!"

Daniel chuckled at his Partner's antics and called him over.

"C'mon Jack…you were the one who bought a puppy and told Cassie that every kid has to have a dog."

"I didn't say every kid has to have an almost-wolf though, did I?" The older man allowed a smile to cross his face as he rubbed his furry team-mate behind the ear. Jackson promptly rolled onto his back, begging for a belly-rub. While Daniel shook his head in mock despair, O'Neill sighed and obliged their four-footed companion. Teal'c, still somewhat bemused by this behaviour, tried to ignore it although the squirming body of eighty pounds of Wulf was hard to ignore.

"I swear, Daniel, that your mutt is gonna get us into trouble some day doing this."

Oblivious to the antics of her male companions, Carter had walked round to study some of the ruins for herself. She heard the banter between O'Neill and Daniel and couldn't help smiling at them – some things would never change. It made her feel comfortable to have her 'family' around so she had no qualms about wandering off a little way just to see what she could find.

She had noticed what seemed to be a game trail leading to the south-west but found herself strangely reluctant to investigate alone. She made a mental note to suggest further investigation to O'Neill when she got back before turning to make her way back to the rest of the team. To her surprise she couldn't see them. She was sure she hadn't walked that far, remembering passing a certain point that she had mentally tagged as a way marker. She began to retrace her steps, moving swiftly but surely, her eyes looking for her route back. She wasn't paying attention to the trees above her or the bushes around her. As a result she didn't see the extra shadows on the ground, her concentration directed on simply finding her way back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** This is getting repetitive...not mine, not mine, not mine.

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**Chapter Five**

O'Neill suddenly snapped his head up, both hands reaching for his P90. The other men felt the sudden tension and both came alert. Even Jackson rolled swiftly to his feet, sniffing the air. Daniel put an arm around Jackson's neck.

"Where's Sam?"

"I believe she circled round to view more of the area, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c had tensed, his face falling into the expression he wore whenever he believed a fight was about to ensue. It wasn't much different to his usual expression but his friends could always tell the difference.

"Ok." O'Neill checked his weapon out of habit. "T, you head that way and keep your eyes peeled. Daniel, you and I will go this way and see if we can find any sign of her."

Daniel slipped his hand down to check his zat'ni'katel was free to draw even as he packed his work into his back pack and swung it over his shoulder with his free hand. He went to grab his stationary tin and found it was being pressed against his palm.

"Thanks Jackson." He murmured, the finely plumed tail twitching twice in pleasure. Once again since the whole mad episode of meeting Jackson, Daniel thought himself lucky that he had given in and agreed to follow the relationship through. He surreptitiously rubbed his furry companion behind the ears, his affection guarded as always. Jackson looked up at him, golden eyes questioning, that quiet intelligence regarding his Partner. O'Neill noticed and simply nodded.

"Ok, Jackson. Let's find Sam."

With a small wuff, Jackson stuck his nose to the ground. It didn't take him long to find Carters' scent, his plumed tail jerking twice in recognition. He didn't make a sound, just followed the trail quickly and calmly, knowing that his Partner and their friend would be close behind. Jackson loved Carter, adored her. She was the first kindness he had experienced when he had come to Earth. She had cared for him, looked after him. He would find her.

Daniel was slowly becoming more attuned to his canine Partner. He could almost feel the desire to find that Jackson had, almost smell the scent he was following. He was almost tempted to trade places, just to experience what it was like, almost. But he knew he had to wait, no matter how curious he was. Carter came first.

O'Neill was watching both the route they were taking and the pair in front of him. He wasn't happy about Daniel being in front, his face set in a frown as the thought crossed his mind that Daniel could end up in the firing line. Again.

"Daniel."

"Yeah?"

"Get back behind me."

Glancing over his shoulder, Daniel's bright eyes studied his friends face. A soft smile just touched his lips as he paused in mid-step, allowing O'Neill to overtake. Jackson paused too, concern flashing through his eyes as he looked at the change behind him.

"Its okay, Jackson. Go on, find Sam."

The Wulf hesitated.

"I'm just fine, Jackson. Go on."

O'Neill shook his head.

"He needs to come out with us on more training missions." Looking down at Jackson he said, "You find Carter. I'll look after Daniel."

The two men could see the thought process as Jackson figured it out. Then, as if nothing had changed, he went back to tracking their missing team mate. O'Neill commented dryly, "And you've been teaching him teamwork."

Daniel made to respond but nearly tripped over Jackson when the Wulf halted in front of the men, his head up and upper lip curled. O'Neill crouched down, all business, his eyes scanning the area, looking for the threat. Daniel had gotten quicker at drawing his firearm over the years and was only a couple of seconds behind the general.

"T?" O'Neill thumbed his radio. "Do you read?"

"I am here, O'Neill."

"Status."

"I have found no sign of Colonel Carter."

"Ok…head back to the main site. We'll meet you there."

There was a brief pause.

"Do you require my assistance?"

O'Neill almost smiled at the slight query.

"It's fine, Teal'c. See you there."

Jackson was staring down a trail, his lip curled so high his teeth shone. It was only by touching him that Daniel could feel the faint quiver of his body.

"Jack, something's spooking him."

"Yeah?" O'Neill slowly rose, turning to check all around them. "He's not the only one."

"I can't see Sam anywhere."

The two men were back to back, watching for anything, something, that would give meaning to the unease that was creeping across the backs of their necks. The three of them were so tense that when a twig snapped, they all jumped.

"Oh. Sorry."

O'Neill looked at Carter, pretending that nothing had happened. Daniel sighed with relief. Jackson sniffed her feet and ankles then twitched his tail once. Carter looked at all three, a little perplexed.

"The trails aren't very clear. I took a wrong turn at one point. Sorry, I should have radioed." She reached to rub Jackson's head as she spoke, smiling up at the men.

O'Neill shook his head, his expression a curious mix of relief, annoyance and concern. _Shoulda thought of that myself_, he growled to himself.

"It's fine. Come on, back to the main area. Teal'c'll be waiting." Neither he nor Daniel noticed the way Jackson kept sniffing the air.

The party reached the main site without incident and found it empty. Just as he was about to radio, the general noticed movement to his right and began to swing his weapon up to fire. The move was aborted as Teal'c stepped from cover.

"Jeez Teal'c – don't do that!"

"Apologies, O'Neill. Are you well, Colonel Carter?"

"I'm fine, Teal'c, I just got a little lost."

"Perhaps in future one of us should accompany you."

Carter almost blushed at the mild reproach in the Jaffas' tone. "It was just a small misstep. Next time I'll leave markers."

Teal'c inclined his head, his silent acknowledgement of the admission of error. He then looked to Daniel.

"Daniel Jackson, have you completed your studies?"

The sudden remembrance of why he was there made Daniel flinch.

"Nearly…I've just got to get…"

"Nope."

"What?" All ready half out of his backpack, Daniel spun to glare at O'Neill.

"No. We're going back. Now."

Carter and Daniel looked at each other.

"But sir, we haven't even begun…"

"Save it! This place feels wrong and I'm not happy with it. We go back, look at what we do have and then I'll think about coming back out." O'Neill narrowed his eyes, aware that a spot on his shoulder blade was twitching. He trusted his instincts on this but hated seeing that look on Daniel's face. "Daniel, we can come back. But for now, I want to clear out."

The younger man studied his friends' face hard. Seeing the glimmer of unease it those dark brown eyes, he didn't protest but slung his bag over his shoulder wordlessly. O'Neill nodded, signalling to the other two to move out. He took the rear on the way back to the Stargate, that spot on his shoulder twitching the whole time.

"Dial us up!"

Daniel had all ready begun dialling Earth, the third chevron lit and locked. Jackson was fidgeting by his feet, occasionally throwing furtive looks over his shoulder back towards the forest. Cater and Teal'c both seemed completely relaxed – that put O'Neill's back up even more. So when the first gun shot went off, it wasn't coming under fire that surprised him but who was firing. He dove to the side, automatically bringing his P90 up to bear. Then he hesitated.

Daniel had ducked behind the DHD, peering out in horror at what he was seeing. In his hand was a clump of fur where he had grabbed for Jackson and missed. Jackson was hanging off Carter's right arm, his attack having spoiled her aim. O'Neill blinked once before his training kicked in. He brought his weapon up, sighted and abruptly had to back off as Teal'c shot at him, the burst landing between his feet.

"Dammit, T! What the hell is wrong with you!"

The smell of ozone wafted around him and he heard the chime of a zat being readied for fire.

"Disable!" He shouted, hoping Daniel could hear him, as he pulled his own zat free and aimed at Teal'c. "Stop there. Teal'c, I mean it."

The big Jaffa dropped his staff weapon and strode toward where O'Neill lay. There was no sign of recognition on his face, no shine of humanity in his dark eyes. O'Neill winced in sympathy as he fired. The crackles of electricity enveloped Teal'c, forcing him to his knees. Slowly, he toppled to the floor and lay there, sprawled. O'Neill waited for a count of three before getting up, looking round for Daniel and Jackson. The former was punching in the rest of the 'Gate address and preparing the IDC code whilst the latter was growling at the fallen Carter. The general looked from one fallen body to the other.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know but I'm calling for medical aid." The 'Gate rippled open and Daniel began chattering down the radio.

Walking carefully towards Carter, O'Neill tried to get close enough to check her breathing. He skittered backwards when Jackson growled menacingly.

"Woah, boy. Just checking." He made sure he moved slowly, intending to find a pulse on one wrist. He jerked away when the hand he was reaching for grabbed at him Carter started to rise, hissing angrily.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Go!"

"Wha…?" Daniel turned and gasped. "Jack! Watch out!"

The warning was none too soon. O'Neill ducked just as Teal'c jumped at him. Rolling away, he looked at the faces of his team mates and found nothing he recognised. With a despairing shake of his head, he turned and ran for the open wormhole.

"Go, Daniel, go!"

"Jackson!"

The Wulf was harrying Carter, trying to keep her attention on him and away from the others. She in turn was trying to land a blow on him with a branch she had grabbed from the floor. As Teal'c turned to engage him, Jackson dodged through their legs and ran for the two men. O'Neill stood at the edge of the vortex, aiming but reluctant to shoot until he had to. Daniel waited only until Jackson had reached him then vanished. O'Neill took one more look at his friends, saw that Carter had collected her weapon again and took a step backwards. He landed on the ramp, on his back, the Iris swooping shut just millimetres from his feet. Everyone heard the numerous thumps of bullets being fired through the Stargate just before the wormhole shut down.

Daniel was sitting in the middle of the ramp, his eyes distant, his glasses in his hand. Jackson sat next to him, whining and trying to get a reaction by poking his nose in Daniel's ear. It was Siler, omnipresent in the Gate room, who asked, "Where's Colonel Carter and Teal'c?"

O'Neill and Daniel looked at each other, for once neither of them having any answer whatsoever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill on this one...

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**Chapter Six**

"Stay still."

Doctor Brightman frowned at her patient.

"General, I can't clean the wound if you keep jumping around."

"Doc, it's a graze. I'm more bothered about the burn on my calf." O'Neill glowered at her, sticking his leg out to draw attention to the melted trouser leg. The doctor glanced down and tutted.

"Very well…I'll deal with that first – although it looks like mostly dirt upon first assessment. Stay there." She glared at him as she left.

O'Neill grumped, "Hell, you'd think I was a dog the way she does that."

"Jack…you do have a tendency to try and wander off when you're recovering." Daniel was sitting on a chair by the side of the bed; Jackson curled between the two men, watching them both carefully. He slumped down, the shock catching up with him even as O'Neill reached out and grabbed his collar.

"Easy, Danny."

"What happened?"

O'Neill couldn't answer. He was going over and over the events in his mind, trying to figure out if there had been any change that could have warned them. He was dimly aware of someone talking to him, of a prick in his shoulder and the following light numbness, of warm water cleaning the dirt from his leg and someone applying a light gauze, so focused was he on remembering every detail. It wasn't until someone snapped their fingers in front of his face that he looked around.

"Welcome back."

"What?"

"You zoned out." A mug of coffee got wafted under his nose. "Here, you look a little pale."

"Look who's talking." But he took the mug, inhaling deeply, and was pleased to see Daniel was drinking some too. "You okay?"

"For someone who's just had two of his closest friends turn psycho…Yeah, I'm okay. At least there wasn't…" His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard. "There were 14 impacts upon the Iris, all small. So I guess she shot at us after all."

O'Neill nodded slowly, the dull thud of pain in his shoulder finally registering as the painkiller wore off. He looked down at the white padding and raised an eyebrow.

"Wow."

"Yeah…Jackson leapt up just as she fired. It pushed her arm up enough…but she was aiming for your heart." Daniel was obviously having trouble coming to terms with what he was saying. If the nervous twitching of his hands wasn't enough, Jackson had crawled over to place his head in Daniel's lap. O'Neill looked at Jackson, ignoring the stab of irony at Daniel's words.

"Thanks buddy. I owe you a steak."

Jackson rolled his eyes to look up at O'Neill, his tail twitching gently. Daniel had his hands buried in the Wulfs' fur, his expression troubled. O'Neill knew that the younger man was doing the same as he had been – going back over the events, trying to figure out if there had been anything they missed. He also knew that neither of them could afford to dwell.

"Well," He began, "This is new."

"New?" A pair of blue eyes looked up at him, puzzled. O'Neill shrugged then hissed in pain.

"Yeah. I mean, sure Carter threatened to blow us up once."

"When Jolinar was in control." Daniel pointed out.

"And Teal'c tried to turn us over to Apophis."

"When he was brain-washed."

"But they've never gone wacko at the same time." O'Neill waved a finger almost triumphantly.

There was a dry chuckle in response.

"I must still be in shock…that was almost funny."

O'Neill caught the odd note and really looked at his friend.

"You okay?"

Daniel rubbed at his ribs.

"I bounced off the DHD…it's nothing. At least I didn't break anything."

"And the two of you should be resting." Brightman swept in, her eyes bright beacons of disapproval. Both men groaned.

"C'mon, doc, let us up. We've been through worse!"

"And I will tell you what Doctor Frasier would say: That as may be, but I want to make sure you are healthy before you go and find the worse you are so adept at finding." She slapped O'Neill's' hand away from his shoulder as she peeled the bandage back to check the wound. "Well, it's not as bad as it looked to begin with. Another scar to add to your collection, General."

"Great." O'Neill rolled his eyes. "Just what I wanted for Christmas."

Brightman eyed him, her expression one of someone gauging whether or not to respond to sarcasm with sarcasm. Daniel decided to save the situation.

"We need to go back to the planet and find out what's going on." He rubbed at his face, his fingers automatically moving to readjust his glasses. When he didn't feel them he frowned.

"On the cabinet."

"Oh." Sheepishly, Daniel recovered his eyewear then blinked up at O'Neill. "Jack, we have to go back…if that was Teal'c and Sam, we have to bring them home. If it wasn't, we have to find them."

"I know." O'Neill rubbed his eyes. "How the hell am I gonna write this up in a report?"

Daniel didn't answer. That was fine with O'Neill as he wasn't really looking for one. Gingerly he tested his weight on the injured leg. When it held and there were no immediate repercussions, he stood up and started to put his jacket on. As he turned round, Brightman was glowering at him.

"A-hem." Her fingers were drumming on her upper arm where she had crossed her arms and even her toe was lightly tapping. O'Neill put on his best innocent boy look.

"Don't even try it with me, General."

The two men looked at each other.

"And don't act like two boys caught skipping school either. You've both had a shock, the general is not recovered enough in my estimation and poor Jackson is exhausted too." The Wulf cocked one golden ear and his tail wagged just a little upon hearing his name. "Not one of you should be going anywhere. And until we are sure there isn't a contaminant no one should be going to PX6-W358"

O'Neill sighed.

"Doc, we're going to get full kit and take SGs 4 and 16 with us, with tranq guns. Both teams have been there and nothing happened. You said yourself our bloods checked out" He slightly hobbled past her. "We'll be fine."

She harrumphed at him.

"Fine. Don't tell me I didn't warn you though if you're back in here by the end of the day."

As the pair of them slunk from the Infirmary, Daniel glanced back.

"Sometimes, I really miss Janet."

O'Neill laughed.

"Like she wouldn't have tried sitting on us if it came to it."

Daniel chuckled and sighed.

"Yeah…she would have too."

They turned the corner to find two teams standing ready. O'Neill leaned round to peer down the corridor.

"Am I lost or is the Gate Room three junctions thadda way and down a few floors?"

"Sir, we were on our way to collect the tranquillisers from the Infirmary – Sergeant Harriman suggested you might be requiring them."

"Ah." O'Neill stepped sideways as Daniel did the same, although the general was eyeing the groups suspiciously. "By all means."

As the eight men and women filed past, Daniel looked O'Neill in the eye and asked, "What happens if we can't sedate them?"

"Walter is starting to worry me…" O'Neill muttered as he started to walk away. Daniel grabbed at his wrist.

"Jack?"

The look in O'Neill's brown eyes was ice-cold with fury.

"It won't come to that."

"But Jack…the zat didn't keep them down. I know we're kind of used to it…"

"They'll go down, we'll restrain them and we'll bring them back here where they'll get fixed up."

"Yes, but Jack…"

"No buts, Daniel. We can fix this." The desire to see his team whole was so intense, blazing from his face, Daniel almost wanted to step back. As it was, he backed off.

"You're right. We can bring them home." As Jackson stuck his nose in first one palm than the other in concern, Daniel grit his teeth and O'Neill watched his face. Once he saw what he wanted, he nodded sharply.

"Ok…let's try this ride again. And this time, no flake outs."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Oh for crying out loud! You know, I'm only gonna say this once more, coz I figure y'all cottoned on by this point: OC, plot, never-before-seen stuff - mine. Canon - not mine. Oh! And Jackson appears courtesy of Phoenix-Cry.

**Warning:** Violence and death.

**Rating:** T

**Author's Note:** This is longer than any other chapter simply because I couldn't cut it down. After you've read it, I hope you don't give up on the story!

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

The men spread out in front of the Stargate.

"Sir! Shell casings!"

"Count 'em up, Captain. Make sure they tally with what we know."

O'Neill was watching for any sign of where Teal'c or Carter could be. Beside him Daniel had a rope on Jackson, more for his own concern than his Partner's safety, and was nervously fingering his zat on his thigh.

"They have to be here…we've only been gone an hour and a half. If they were that intent on killing us, as they were…"

"Then they won't have gone far." O'Neill took a step forward to catch the eye of the team leaders. The two men quickly stepped forward.

"Okay, I want two man teams, in radio contact at all times. They only changed after they had been off on their own so don't loose sight of your buddy for anything, clear?"

"Clear."

"Yessir."

"Right. We'll spread out, no more than ten metres apart as we go into the tree line. I want a count off at regular intervals too – I want no risks on this. We're all aware of the capabilities of both Colonel Carter and Teal'c and right now they seem to have the added benefit of an adrenaline rush. I want no mistakes. This is a search and rescue."

"Copy that."

"Aye sir."

O'Neill looked over the men, grim faced.

"Okay, move out. Daniel, you're with me." He didn't need to check that Daniel was with him – he could feel Jackson's breath on his hand as they moved forward, sense the presence of the younger man at his shoulder. He had no idea what was going on here but he was damn well going to find out, one way or another.

As luck would have it, they were the first pair to reach the ruins they had visited earlier that day. Jackson was sniffing around madly, finding their scents from earlier, even digging out the piece of chalk Daniel hadn't even realised he had dropped. He received it graciously although he still had to wipe it off. O'Neill couldn't help but laugh.

"Our dog used to do that all the time, bringing in toys or balls or even my baseball bat one time. She just got it in her head we'd lost it and she had to bring it back."

Jackson was watching the game trail they had traversed previously but one ear twitched back to catch what O'Neill was saying. Daniel just looked at the older man.

"It's true." O'Neill slowly turned in a circle, eyeing all possible points of cover. "She just loved to bring things back for us."

As he moved he flicked his glance over to one side. Daniel frowned until he did it a second time, just as O'Neill said 'back' Getting the hint, Daniel slowly moved to cover and be covered by O'Neill.

"So, aside from baseball bats, she bring in anything bigger?" He crept his hand down to his zat, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Oh, the usual." O'Neill kept moving, always keeping the area he suspected in sight but looking as laid-back as he could. "You know, bottles, cans…she even dragged in an open umbrella one time. We figured she thought Mom needed a new one."

"Really? How did you work that out?" Daniel slowly brought the zat up to sit comfortably in his palm, his free hand resting on Jackson's' head to keep him calm.

"Well…Mom's had holes in it…so she just didn't have enough shade…" As he spoke the last word, O'Neill dropped to one knee and swept his dart gun up to his shoulder just as Carter burst through the undergrowth. His shot caught her in the upper thigh and she dropped. The two men stared at her a moment.

"Well…that was easy." His brow furrowed, Daniel eyed the fallen form.

"Let's just restrain her now before anything turns up." O'Neill thumbed his radio. "Status report."

"General, Captain Jenks. We've caught sight of Teal'c and are in pursuit, four men."

"Copy that…just to affirm, Carter has been found and is now napping. Concentrate on Teal'c for now."

"Copy that, sir. Will update you as and when."

O'Neill turned to find Daniel had all ready put zip-locks around the wrists and ankles. He studied Carter's face, trying to see any marks or lines…anything at all that would show as her being different.

"If this isn't her, Jack, then we'll only know through a DNA screen."

"Ok…let's get her back to the Gate." O'Neill froze. "Did you hear that?"

Daniel looked round. "Hear what?"

At his side, Jackson whimpered and shot a glance back along the trail just as the sound of pounding feet grew loud enough to be a problem.

"Get back!"

As the three figures dived for cover, Teal'c burst into view, racing madly through the clearing, dodging round the ruins. SG-4 was in hot pursuit, their aim with the dart guns made folly simply by the speed with which their prey moved. One of the men spotted the general.

"Sorry sir…but he doesn't want to come in!"

"No kidding?" O'Neill shook his head. "Just get after him!"

The chase disappeared down a trail. Daniel crawled out from under a bush, shaking pollen from his hair.

"Oh, that's not good." On cue, he sneezed. O'Neill rolled his eyes.

"You gonna be ok here for five minutes?"

"Sure. Go." Daniel waved him off after Teal'c. As O'Neill took off after SG-4, he saw Jackson take up a watch on the sleeping Carter.

O'Neill ran into a mini war zone. He couldn't believe his eyes and was almost tempted to rub them to see if the picture made any more sense.

Teal'c was bristling with darts but still fighting. He had dropped his staff somewhere along the way and was now tossing people over his shoulder as if they were rag dolls. On a swift head count, three men were down, one was dazed and the other four were trying to keep him occupied and tire him out. O'Neill took one look then he planted his feet and leapt forward.

Wrapping his arms around Teal'c's upper body, he yelled in his ear.

"Teal'c, it's me!"

The only response was for Teal'c to tense up, pushing his arms outwards despite O'Neill's attempts to hold them down. As soon as he had a little leeway, Teal'c grabbed a wrist and hauled O'Neill over his shoulder, throwing him to the floor. He raised a foot to stamp down but one of the other men tackled him, knocking him off balance. Rolling to his feet, O'Neill pulled his zat and aimed. A shout stopped him.

"We've all ready shot him once, sir!"

And a second would kill him. O'Neill hesitated.

"Dammit."

He leapt back in, adding his weight to that of the four men as they wrestled the raging Jaffa to the floor. In the midst of the struggling bodies, Teal'c suddenly went still. Everyone froze. One of the men, Jenks, checked for a pulse. His horrified look told O'Neill everything. He closed his eyes, his teeth grinding together.

"Okay, let's get him back to the SGC…at least we might find out what happened. We'll have to call Bra'tac."

"Yes sir." The men rose, each one staring at the body before them. O'Neill bent down, just to check for himself, to try and break the reality. But the flesh beneath his fingers was real and the artery he traced was still. With a pained sigh, he straightened and signalled for the team to carry on. The frantic barking barely registered on his brain at first then he was on the move.

"Stay here! Secure the area!"

He pounded back the way he had come, the special ops soldier in him flaring to life. He didn't hesitate as he burst from the undergrowth, yanking his sidearm from its holster, taking aim even as he pulled up and letting off three shots.

Daniel watched O'Neill go after Teal'c. Turning, he looked down at the now peaceful features of Carter and shook his head.

"What happened, Sam?"

He took the opportunity to check her face, neck and arms for insect bites or scratches, hushing Jackson's warning growl. When he found nothing but the same marks from the brush as he had, he sat back and sighed.

"I don't get it. This makes no sense." He reached out and patted his Partner, looking for some solidarity. "Unless it's an airborne particle but then Jack and I weren't affected."

He rose, thoughtfully pawing his way through his bag, looking for some antiseptic wipes for Carter's scratches. He heard the yelp behind him and spun so fast he fell. It was all that saved him.

Carter was standing over him, her face a mask of fury and hatred. The rock she had thrown was lying by his head. Daniel tried to look for Jackson but Carter blocked his view. She raised her hands, a stone in each, and he rolled away, scrambling to his feet. He looked into those aqua eyes and tried to get through.

"Sam, come on Sam, it's me, Daniel. You've gotta be in there somewhere."

She snarled and ran at him. Without thinking, Daniel dropped to the floor, his foot coming up to plant itself in her stomach and help toss her over his head. As he rolled to his feet he had a brief moment to be amazed that he'd actually done what O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c had all been trying to get him to do for years. Then she was back, desperately trying to land a blow.

Jackson appeared from nowhere, a gold and grey blur that landed on Carter's back, shoving her to the floor. The pair of them began to roll, she trying to knock the Wulf off and Jackson barking madly, his jaws snapping but not connecting on flesh. Daniel went for his zat but his hand found an empty holster. Looking round frantically, he spotted it a few feet away. As he dived for it, he felt something clip the back of his head. Hitting the dirt he rolled again, one hand reaching to find a trace of blood. As his vision started blurring, he heard another yelp then a dark shadow slowly came into view.

"Jackson…Sam, no."

That's when he heard the shots.

O'Neill watched as his bullets took Carter in the thigh and shoulder. He'd flinched at the third shot, the bullet zipping past her ear as she fell to her knees, giving Jackson a chance to wriggle away from her.

"Carter. Stay down."

She looked at him. He had never seen such naked hatred on her face before, not even when faced with Niirti or Hathor or Ba'al. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Carter? Sam?"

There was a flicker in her eyes, something that briefly gave rise to hope. Then her arm swung up and O'Neill fell back, yelling as the first blast from the zat arced round him. He didn't even feel the rock that smacked into his hip. He heard Jackson snarl, heard the pained cry from Daniel as the zat spat a second time and assumed that the Wulf had been hit. He snarled, dragging himself up. His P90 was just out of reach, thrown aside as he had convulsed. He wasn't sure where his semi-automatic had gone and his zat wasn't an option as he knew that one shot would be useless. His tranquiliser gun had been lost in the scuffle with Teal'c.

Carter was standing over Daniel, an easy target as she fired once. The blow to his head coupled with the zat blast was enough to knock the archaeologist out. She smiled as she drew her foot back to land a solid kick on the ribs he knew were all ready bruised. There was a cracking sound and O'Neill's gut went cold.

"Hey! Carter!"

He tried to drag himself up but his legs didn't want to work yet. He could hear shouts in the distance and knew that if he could just distract her for a few more moments, they might yet be able to overwhelm her. Even as he thought it, she took the option from him.

He hadn't realised he'd moved until he was staring into those beautiful aqua eyes. She was standing three feet from him, where she had begun to run at him. Her face, smudged with dirt and small bloody scratches, slowly softened. They both looked down to the hilt that was in her hand. Then they both slowly looked up, his dark eyes meeting her light. In that moment, he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes. It was only a second before it was replaced again by rolling fury but it was there. Slowly, she crumpled to the floor, the zat falling from her hand to tumble and rest near his.

O'Neill stared at the three fallen forms. Carefully, his legs still a little shaky, he got to his feet. Carefully, he shuffled over to where Daniel lay, dropping to his knees to shake the younger man. A low moan reassured him and a cracked voice asked,

"Jack?"

"Yup."

Blue eyes fluttered open and Daniel hissed as he gingerly sat up, yelping as his ribs protested.

"Where's Jackson? I heard him…"

"He's ok. One shot…he'll be fine."

Daniel blinked rapidly, his focus slowly zeroing in on O'Neill's face. What he saw made him frown.

"Jack, what is it?"

In answer, O'Neill leaned to his side. Behind him, Carter lay on her side, her face peaceful, her eyes closed, one bloody hand draped over her stomach. Daniel's face paled and he stared at Jack in shock.

"She…I…" O'Neill swallowed. "I had no choice."

Suddenly, O'Neill slumped forwards. Daniel tried to catch him only for his ribs to scream in protest. His head swimming, he tried to focus on his friend's face. O'Neill managed to mumble, "Ya know, injuries plus zat plus shock…not a good thing."

Then he was out cold. Before Daniel could say anything, two airmen raced into the area and stopped, jaws dropping at the scene. At that point, after allowing the generals body to gently fall to the floor, Daniel's concussion and cracked ribs joined forces and he too slipped into oblivion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Rating:** K+

**Genre:** Angst/Hurt/Comfort

**Disclaimer:** As per the last seven chapters - if you didn't see it any of those times, then I'm not gonna keep repeating myself!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Doctor Brightman had given him the all clear an hour ago. She'd tried to keep him in for another night of observation but he had barked her down. She had reluctantly let him leave after insisting that he check in on Daniel before he left and pushing some sleeping pills on him – those he tossed in the first bin he found.

He had a report to type up, an explanation to give, but the more he tried to centre on what he was doing the more he saw her face in his mind. That brief flicker…did he imagine it? Was he so desperate to believe she could never change like that? He looked down at his fist and the pencil he had snapped in half without thinking. Slowly he put the pieces to one side, his vision blurring as he stared at the paper in front of him. All he had to do was sign it.

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes making a slow tour of the room. The certificates by the door. The photo of the President. The window with the galaxy mapped out on it. The repair on the wall where he had put his foot through it by accident that day when wearing the armband. The weight in his chest made it hard to move but he managed, carefully rising to his feet, slowly moving to stand at the window of the briefing room. He looked down upon the majestic ring that had provided him with so many wonderful memories, offering him more than this world could have ever given alone. He looked down upon it and watched as a team prepared to step through, watched as the chevrons lit up one by one and the wormhole opened in all its shimmering glory. He counted off the seconds between final check and the first man through, the way he always had with his team. Then they were gone. The dappled blue light that had bathed the grey walls went out, the soft thunderclap echoing through to his heart. His head dropped so his chin rested on his chest, only to snap up again as the klaxons went off.

He heard the call but didn't hear the words, his attention firmly fixed upon the Iris and what lay beyond it. It whispered open, the rippling event horizon briefly reminding him of a pair or aqua eyes. He shook his had, trying to banish the memory, if only for a moment. He didn't realise that he was gripping at the stone so hard, that he was straining his eyes, waiting, watching, for a familiar face to step through. The disappointment knifed through his abdomen when he saw only a standard SG team returning. In his mind, there was only one thing to do.

His fingertips hurt but he couldn't understand why. Still, he managed to pick up the pen. Without looking at the piece of paper, he signed his name with a flourish. Then he picked up another plain piece, quickly scribbled a note and folded it. On the front he wrote a name and propped it up against the nameplate at the front of his desk. He took a long look at the room, then turned and stared through at the briefing room where only yesterday they had all sat together. He fiddled at his neck for a moment and dropped something on the desk. With a hard swallow, he turned on his heel and walked out the door.

He made his way to the locker room where he quietly changed into his civilian clothes. He took the shoe box from his locker and packed his duffel bag with the small items he had kept there for the last eight years. As he made his way to the elevator he smiled and nodded to the various airmen and technicians he passed, the look in his eyes precluding any comments on events. He was alone as he reached the surface where he was greeted by the guard on duty.

"See you tomorrow, sir."

He grunted, moving past and fishing in his pocket for his car keys. He slung the duffel bag into the passenger seat, sliding into the driver seat. He drove through the gate, stopping a short way down the road into Cheyenne Mountain and looked back at the place he had devoted his life for the past eight years. He closed his eyes, the lines on his face deepening as he fought the emotions inside him. Then he looked up, put his SUV in gear and drove away.

Leaning against the nameplate, the folded note had the name _Dr. Daniel Jackson_ written upon it. On the desk the sheet of paper, weighed down at one corner by a set of dog tags, had a few lines written, which read:

_To Whom It May Concern,_

_This is my letter of resignation, effective immediately._

_And this time, it's for good._

_Signed,_

_Jack O'Neill (retired)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Rating:** K+/T

**Disclaimer:** looks at the readers with a raised eyebrow You know it all ready.

**Author's Note:** Please don't hate me for what I do to these boys - I love them really!!!

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**Chapter Nine**

He'd been up to the house. The door had been open. It hadn't occurred to him to bring a gun but Jackson had held him back anyway. He had looked to his Partner who was sniffing the air carefully.

"Well?"

With a huffing sound, Jackson had given way, allowing Daniel to open the door. Since the incident on PX6-W358, Jackson had been more protective of his Partner, checking every room, frequently waking in the night to check that Daniel was sleeping well, whichever form either of them were in at the time. He was perfectly aware of the scents of every member of every SG team but over the few days they had been recuperating, Jackson had been snarling at anyone who came near the sleeping Daniel. Only Doctor Brightman and O'Neill, the one time he'd dropped by, had escaped without a thorough warning.

The pair of them had stood in the hall of Jack O'Neill's house and surveyed the carnage. Daniel had wobbled, catching at the archway into the living area to steady him as he recognised smashed picture frames, the pieces of the coffee table. Peering through into the kitchen he couldn't see a single whole glass or mug, just slivers of glass and chunks of enamel littered across the worktops and floor. He didn't need to move to the other rooms to know that they would be the same.

"Jackson."

The Wulf looked up, his expression forlorn.

"Search for me."

Jackson had vanished into the depths of the house as Daniel slowly made his way outside, intending to climb up to where Jack had his telescope. But even from the ground he could see it was gone. The barbeque was smashed to pieces too – it seemed that nothing had survived. As he gently lowered himself onto one of the steps, Jackson had appeared. He laid his find in Daniel's lap, his golden eyes sad, and sat as close as he could, pressing against Daniel's uninjured side. Daniel had stared down at the picture in his lap. In it the four of them were laughing, smiling – well, Teal'c was almost smiling – and he even remembered when it was as he had his own copy. They had gone out for a meal at an Italian place near Ivywild and one of the waiters had offered to take the picture for them. They had just been reunited after the defeat of the Replicators and had figured they had something to celebrate. It was the only picture in the whole house that had survived except one other – the picture of a smiling blonde haired boy that he knew Jack had kept in his room – and that one was missing.

Daniel was holding that group shot now as he stood across the street from Carter's home. Having found O'Neill's house trashed and his cabin locked and empty, this was the only place he could think of where he might find the man who had saved him from himself so many times.

He thought back over his conversation with Brightman and Hammond three days ago:

_"Sir, I'm sorry to drag you into this."_

_"Not at all, Doctor Jackson. Once I heard I had to come by and see how you and General O'Neill were doing."_

_"Well, sir, that's the problem."_

_"Doctor Brightman?"_

_"General O'Neill hasn't been seen for two days, sir."_

_"And I found this on his desk, along with a note for me."_

_"Resigning. Why?"_

_"He says that he can't do this anymore. For the moment, Doctor Brightman and I have told everyone that he's been sent home to rest for a few days…but I don't know how long we can keep that up."_

_"Well, Doctor Jackson, as I am here, you can find General O'Neill. I think I remember where everything is for a few days."_

After that, it had been easy. The decision to try one more house hadn't been but Daniel had to try.

He crossed the street, watching for movement at the windows to indicate if anyone was standing, keeping an eye. When he reached the front door without incident, he slowly pulled a set of keys from his pocket. After his first Ascension, he'd given copies of his keys to Carter just in case. In turn, she had given him copies of hers. They had both gotten copies of O'Neill's keys too…at some point he was going to have to admit to that. But not today. The door opened easily, not a single sound from within. Once again, Jackson shoved his shoulders in the door first.

"Hello?"

Even as he called out, Daniel was waving Jackson in. For the first time, they had planned what they were doing. Daniel had told Jackson to search the house quietly, coming back to him if he found anything. The Wulf nodded and moved off, silently creeping through, his sense of smell picking up the faint ginger and cinnamon scent of Samantha Carter everywhere. He knew that she was gone, knew that the bitter metallic tang in his Partners' scent was grief and sadness at her loss. He too had grieved and he felt different now. So when he found the huddled figure in the corner of the lounge, he didn't go back to find his Partner straight away but laid on the floor and crept forward an inch at a time until his nose came into contact with the outstretched hand.

The dark eyes opened slowly, focus taking a few moments to achieve. When they registered the black and gold muzzle near by, the figure coughed quietly.

"Hey furball."

Jackson twitched his tail and whined. The figure closed its eyes again. So Jackson gently took the hand in his teeth and tugged. The figure looked at him tiredly.

"Go away. I'm sleeping here."

With a huff, Jackson stood up and grabbed hold of the leather jacket he could smell. He set his feet and pulled. Being so large, he actually tugged the figure an inch or two along the floor. As the crumpled form of Jack O'Neill started to curse, Jackson dropped his mouthful of clothing and barked sharply.

"Will you shut up! Leave me alone!" O'Neill snarled.

"Are you sure about that?" asked a quiet voice from behind him.

O'Neill glared at Jackson.

"Knew you'd bring him along."

Daniel sighed, moving slowly to lower himself to the floor, favouring his right ribs. O'Neill jerked his chin at him.

"How're they?"

"Oh…cracked, bruised. Dr Brightman has told me to rest for a few weeks until she's happy."

O'Neill grunted, tucking his knees up and resting his forearms on them. The brief gleam of metal didn't escape Daniel's notice but he was willing to ignore it for now. He was also willing to be patient. Jackson, however, wasn't.

The Wulf grabbed hold of O'Neill's jacket again and pulled. This time O'Neill pulled back.

"Get off! I don't want holes in it!"

"I think he wants you to get up."

"Yeah? Well I'm fine just here."

Cobalt eyes caught deep brown as Daniel asked softly, "Are you?"

For a moment, Jack met the stare then he turned his head away, rubbing at his unshaven jaw and shrugging.

"For now. I'll probably move on tonight or tomorrow."

"And go where?"

"Anywhere."

With a soft sigh, Daniel let his head drop, let the pain and tiredness creep into his body language and voice.

"Jack…don't do this to yourself."

"What?"

"It wasn't your fault, Jack. It wasn't you that drove them to loose their minds."

The older man growled and looked startled when Jackson growled back. Then he chuckled.

"You starting on me now too, huh?"

Jackson stuck his muzzle under the nearest elbow and jerk his head up, wriggling to put his head under Jack's arm far enough to lick his cheek. Both men smiled.

"Smart Wulf you got there."

"Yeah…he is. He's taught me some things."

Raising an eyebrow, O'Neill looked at the younger man.

"True. He's taught me to listen more. To stop being so afraid of everything going wrong because I don't know something. He's even taught me to sleep better at night rather than have nightmares every minute of every hour I'm asleep."

"Yeah? So, Daniel, do you think he can teach me not to have nightmares?" There was the light of challenge in Jack's eyes, the gruff edge of grief and anger to his voice. "You reckon I can learn not to keep seeing her face when I close my eyes? Not see the moment when she realises my knife is buried to the hilt in her stomach? Forget how she looked at me and recognised me…_knew who I was and what I had just done_?"

O'Neill screwed his eyes shut as he fought for control. Daniel watched him, not sure how to take this role reversal – always before it had been Jack talking him down from the edge, once quite literally. Now Jack was on the edge, visibly loosing control.

"Jack…I'm sorry."

"Did you see the results?"

"What?" Daniel blinked.

"The blood and DNA results."

Oh. "Yes, I saw them."

"They haven't a clue what happened. Nothing in the bloods, the brain…nothing. They don't even know what made Teal'c go down."

"I know."

"But we both know what it said cause of death was on _her_ report."

Daniel swallowed.

"Yes. I saw that." He watched as O'Neill ground his teeth together, his jaw muscles rippling so much he knew it had to hurt.

"Then it's official isn't it. I killed her." The grey head ducked. "I killed her, Daniel."

"Jack…" Carefully, Daniel edged round so he was sitting directly opposite his friend. "Jack…"

O'Neill looked up into his friend's cobalt eyes, filled with sympathy and pain and grief. He looked into that familiar face and saw all the sorrow that Daniel had been carrying from the moment he had lost Sha're and suddenly he understood it completely. With a broken yell, O'Neill sprang up and dashed from the room. Daniel let him go, shaking his head gently. Jackson was looking at him almost accusingly.

"What?"

"Wuff."

"If he doesn't want to talk, I can't make him."

Jackson shoved Daniel then, clearly irritated.

"No."

Sitting back, the Wulf fastened his golden eyes on Daniel's face. Daniel pointedly refused to look his Partner in the eye.

"I will not swap places and trick him. No."

With that Jackson huffed loudly, got up, and walked out of the room, following O'Neill and leaving Daniel on the floor.

* * *

Outside, O'Neill was looking up at the sky. He didn't want to close his eyes, didn't want to remember that flash in Carter's eyes as she had looked at him. He didn't want to keep seeing Teal'c either, raging as it took five men to wrestle him to the floor, the proud face slack as empty eyes stared up at him. He heard the squeak of the door behind him.

"Go away, Daniel."

When there was no answer, he turned enough to catch the glimmer of gold from the corner of his eye.

"Oh."

Jackson sat next to him and stared across the small garden. For a moment O'Neill was suspicious, catching the animals muzzle to look into his eyes. Seeing nothing but Jackson looking back, he relaxed.

"Out here yourself, huh. Don't blame you." He glanced at the Wulf who shifter closer. "I don't do talking, you know. Never have. We never have. And I don't want to start. You get that?"

Jackson just looked at him, those patient eyes searching his face. O'Neill felt guilt well up inside as Jackson gave a huge sigh and lay with his nose pointing toward the door. He glanced back, half expecting to see Carter standing there, a bright smile on her face, her hand extended as she beckoned for the dog tags he was holding tightly in his hands. When he found nothing, he turned to his furry companion.

"So what? Go back in, apologise, talk about it?"

Jackson cocked an ear.

"Coz, I don't want to, y'know. I'm not good with that stuff."

Jackson sniffed,

"Yeah, I saw the picture. I know where he got it."

Lazily Jackson sat up, sniffed and sneezed.

"You're right – he does understand."

Jackson shook his head, standing up as if to lead the way. O'Neill looked at him. Really looked at him. The Wulf looked back. With a painful sigh, O'Neill got to his feet and moved to open the door.

"Ok, you talked me into it. You first."

Walking into the lounge area, O'Neill was struck at how lost Daniel looked, like he was grieving for more than the two friends they had lost. Jackson had gently herded him forwards and now pushed past to bump his head against Daniel's shoulder. The archaeologist looked up, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Danny…I…"

"Jack, you guys are my family."

"I know." O'Neill crouched in front of the younger man, taking control again as he always did. Daniel just sat looking at him, a lost little boy in a sea of pain. "Teal'c was a brother."

"But Sam?"

Sighing, O'Neill let his feet go out from under him.

"Sam…" He took a deep breath. "Sam was…Sam."

They looked at each other and there was nothing more to say, nothing to explain, just as it had always been. As Daniel dissolved into tears, O'Neill wrapped his arms around him and Jackson crept forward to rest his muzzle on one shoulder. In Samantha Carter's home, his closest friend in his arms and the picture of the four of them celebrating at his feet, Jack O'Neill allowed himself to cry a tear for the love he had never expressed and the woman he killed before he could tell her.

**

* * *

**

**Elsewhere...**

"How goes it?"

"The effort seems to have progressed as planned."

"Really? That is exceptional. I hope this means that we have nothing to fear from further incursions."

"Indeed it does. The patterning should hold once we release them. They will not return."

"Good."

"Do you wish to view the other subjects?"

"Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten them, so fascinated was I on the reactions from these."

"I assure you, you will find these subjects just as fascinating as the others."


	10. Chapter 10

Hurts. Head. Shoulder. Thigh. All hurts. What happened? Did I fall? Can't see the others…they have to be here…can't see anything. Hard to even think. Can't stay awake…Ow. What the…? Feels like…never mind. It's not real. It's just a figment of my imagination. I was dreaming. That's what it was…just a really, really bad dream. He wasn't there. He didn't…the guys will come after me. They'll find me. I have to be patient. I have to be ready. Ok. Where to begin? Stock check. Right. What is here, what isn't here. Broken bones? No. Right. Bruises, scrapes, scratches – not going to hamper movement. Okay. No equipment – figured that would be the case. Think, think. Where am I? It's damp. Damp? Why would it be damp? What's that noise there? Can't think. Head…sleep it off. I'll try again after a rest.

This is wrong. I am sure I should be elsewhere. It is highly improbable that I would have voluntarily allowed myself to be detained in a place without light, exits or indeed any visible sign of occupation. I will have to investigate further. Perhaps once I have recovered from my fatigue.

It's dark. Why? Why is it dark? But then…are my eyes even open? They must be, there are variations in the shades of black. So I must be seeing. So, if I'm seeing, I should be able to hear and smell. So…what can I hear? Dripping. Like water. Water, dripping, behind me. Why would there be dripping water? Focus. Focus. All right, it's dark and I can hear dripping. What else? It smells damp, musty. A dungeon? No, don't be silly. You can't possibly be in a dungeon. Besides, even if you were, then…someone…someone…who? Who am I trying to remember? They'd find me, I know they would, but who are they? I don't know. I don't know. How long have I been here? In darkness. No light. Makes no sense. There has to be a way. If I could just get to a radio I could…could what? What could I do? Don't know where I am, can't remember who I should call. Can't find the walls of this place – maybe I'm so disorientated I keep turning round. That has to be it. Maybe I should sit down and let my head stop pounding.

It is…curious. I have rested but my situation has not changed. There are no signs of other living creatures or of intelligent beings. I believe it is possible I have been forcibly removed from the presence of…others…and placed in captivity. If this is indeed the situation, I have no other option than to attempt to escape. It is most likely that my companions are searching for me, which would make an escape more effective were they to attack the enemy, thereby distracting any who may be watching me. It will require patience – I shall meditate on the matter and regain my strength.

Don't even know how long I was out. Keep drifting off but can't keep track of anything. Have to try. Have to be ready for when they come. Be no use to them if I can't fight. Wait…why would I want to fight? Why do I keep thinking of others? There are no others. There's no one here. There's just me. I have to get out. There has to be a wall or a window or a door here somewhere. If I can find the edges of this…room…then I can find a way out. I can ignore the pain…I've had worse. Can't figure where the wound is though. Oh, it doesn't matter. Don't think about the pain. Get out. Must get out. I have got to get out. Oh hell…can't find a door. Just walls. Walls and more walls. Impossible. No…no…I've been in an impossible room before. Me and…who? Who else? Whatever. We were in the room and hadn't used a door or window. This might be the same. Wonder if there are rings in the floor…don't really want to kneel down but no choice. Here's hoping that there is something here. Flat, smooth…keep trying…gotta be something here…wait. What's that? An imprint? Indentation? Have I found what…OW! What…hit me…no! Gotta stay awake! Gotta see…gotta stay…awake…

I find myself perplexed. I can find no entrance or exit to this room. I am also aware that my strength is waning. I require…something…I cannot remember. It is…difficult…there is something I should know…

Where am I? My head…hurts just to breathe. Where…don't. Don't think. Just stay still, it'll fade. Feel sick. Stinks in here – why? What's going on? Where am I? No…wait…who am I?

I cannot move. I…must get back…without it I will die…must…

Oh God…who am I?

Cannot…die…

* * *

**Warning: **The buzzing in your mind is a symptom of something called the Dreams-of-Skies Confucious Effect. Please do not be concerned - this is entirely normal and is to be expected. Simply relax, be patient and it will dissipate on it's own. 


	11. Chapter 11

He stretched lazily. Without opening his eyes he knew exactly where everything was. His staff weapon would be standing next to the bed. The water jug was on the small table he had made himself. The wardrobe, carved with symbols of peace and harmony, was opposite the door. He could smell the flowers he had collected the night before, on impulse, and knew that they were in a vase on the desk in the corner. And he could smell the lingering scent of the woman lying next to him, so warming and soft and loving. He smiled, stretching a hand out to trace the arm that lay across his chest. He didn't want to open his eyes, didn't want the dream to be broken, because he knew it had to be a dream.

The gentle stirring of the woman almost made him look for her. As her fingers began to trace the muscles and scars upon his torso, he grit his teeth and told himself to return to sleep. When soft lips pressed against his shoulder then his jaw, he gave up, reaching to take hold of the face above him as he opened his eyes.

Soft brown eyes looked down at him. A gentle smile curved full lips. His thumbs traced cheekbones he had almost forgotten. Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders and he could smell the perfume she used to scent it. She blinked long lashes, rubbing her face in his hands, sighing like the early breeze through the trees. He stared up at her, afraid to speak in case everything shattered. She smiled, her lips brushing his gently, her breath mingling with his.

"My love."

Those two words shattered something indeed. His control was lost upon the wave of desire that swept through him. He drowned in her gaze and then in her kiss, wrapping his arms around her, determined to never let her go. She melted into him, fitting her body to his without protest, accepting of the violence in him. Just as she had always been. She slowly pulled away, her warm chuckle vibrating against his chest.

"My love…always so passionate. My warrior. Would you protect me against everything?"

"Everything." He vowed fiercely.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone."

She kissed him again, taking her time, her lips trailing over his jaw, his cheeks, his brow and back again until she laid the lightest of touches upon his lips.

"Then I am yours forever, Teal'c, my love."

With a tortured sigh, he grabbed for her, demanding everything she was. She relented and he took her for his own once more. And as he looked down upon her smiling, beautiful face, her dark hair spread across the pillows, he stroked his fingers down the sides of her body and whispered in awe,

"Shan'Auc."

-----

He could smell the flowers he had brought for her the night before, to welcome her to his home. He could feel the warmth of her body as she snuggled closer to him. The sleepy trust she offered him made him smile and the memories of the night before made him look upon her with longing. As he reached for the woman beside him, she opened her eyes and fixed him with their piercing gaze. Slowly she smiled, stretching as he had. When she had done, she propped herself up and smiled mischievously at him.

"Well, mighty warrior for the Tau'ri…that was a good night."

He allowed himself a smile as his hand trailed over her pale shoulder and down to her hip. She shivered, her full lips curving in a smile that owed more to anticipation.

"Well?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I do not have to leave just yet."

He grinned openly at her. They came together gently, reverently. As he buried his face in her hair, he breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers. She whispered his name in his ear.

"Teal'c, my love."

His control was lost. Those words washed away all intention of being soft and gentle. She embraced the wildness in him, the same wildness she had seen when they had first met. She embraced everything he was and as she looked up at him, trust filling her blue eyes, he could not help but murmur her name,

"Ishta."

* * *

****

**Author's Note:** /giggle/


	12. Chapter 12

She came to lying on her side. She felt bruised and battered, her arms and legs heavy as if she had been running and fighting. She could move but only very slowly. Steeling herself, she raised her head, ignoring the pounding stabbing pain. The room looked familiar to her although she couldn't remember where she had been before, what she had been doing before falling asleep. The light crystals glowed softly by the doorway and she could see a stem of her favourite flower lying on the table next to a tray with a bowl and mug on it. She let her gaze wander round, the soft fabrics that draped from the ceiling glittering in pastel shades and reflecting some light onto the items she could see. A chair next to the desk. A small table next to the bed with a jug of water on it. A trunk in the corner that she somehow knew held all the clothes she owned. Her eyes rested on a small object on the table. It was very familiar to her and she felt attracted to it, like she had to hold it to her.

Taking a deep breath, she swung her legs out from under the sheets, stopping just to catch her breath again. She let her head drop, squeezing her eyes shut to chase away the pain. It was sheer stubbornness that made her try to stand up and sheer folly to have tried. She flopped back onto the bed with a pained grunt and lay there, her face screwed up in annoyance with her body and disappointment that she couldn't even stand. She clenched her fists, shaking them slightly as she gathered her strength again to sit up. Once upright, she gauged the distance between her and the table then between her and the end of the bed. She figured that if she could shimmy down the bed, she could use the foot board as a crutch to then lean over and grab the object she was after. With that plan in mind, she began to move.

It was just as she reached for the object, her legs wobbling, that a voice came from the doorway.

"Well, now I know you're up."

She startled, falling backwards to land in a heap on the bed. The voice chuckled.

"Although perhaps not quite as graceful as normal."

The object she had been seeking appeared in front of her eyes. She reached out and gently took it from the callused hand that held it so carefully.

"Thank you."

Her voice sounded…tired. Not quite the way she thought it should. But it was pushed from her mind as strong hands helped her to sit up and she got a good look at her helper. He was tall, lean rather than thin, with a long face and serious expression. He was frowning at her as he pulled a blanket from the bed and draped it over her shoulders.

"You really should be resting. We got you out pretty quickly but the rock slide did a lot of damage. You'll need at least two more healing sessions."

She nodded, staring at the small crystal flower in her hands. She knew it had been hand-carved just for her and knew that the man who was looking at her with such devotion had been the one to carve it. He saw the way she was stroking the petals and smiled.

"You like it?"

"It's beautiful. Thank you."

He nodded his head, his cropped hair the colour of wave-washed sand, his eyes centred on her face. She smiled and immediately he beamed with joy at the sight. It made her feel loved. It made her feel safe.

"I made it because…" He paused and she reached up to him, offering her hand. With a small sigh he took it and lowered himself to sit beside her, careful not to jostle her. She smiled at him in encouragement. He continued, "Because I wanted to make a talisman that would bring you back to me."

She felt tears pricking at her eyes. He gently brushed her cheek with his palm.

"Do you regret staying with me?"

"Never." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Where else would we have gone? Where else would we be so happy?"

He sighed in relief and gingerly took her in his arms. His eyes blazed, his voice dropped and he said, "We love you both very deeply. Neither of us would have been able to continue without you."

She looked up at him, at both of them, and she felt movement within that begged to be allowed to speak. She dimly heard her voice, but deeper, as her other half spoke.

"Lantash, we could not be without you."

"Jolinar…" Then the host spoke, "Samantha…"

And Samantha looked into those beloved eyes and whispered, "Martouf."

* * *

****

**Author's Note:** I couldn't help myself!!! They are so cute!


	13. Chapter 13

The SGC was quiet. Night shift had started and only Siler was pottering around the Gate Room, checking all the wiring and power cables. In the command area, Sergeant Harriman was sipping coffee and working through a crossword. Upstairs the briefing room was empty and the door to the office closed and locked. The Infirmary was empty of patients and staff. The locker rooms were quiet, no laughter or conversation echoing down the halls. The labs were devoid of life bar a plant or two here and there whilst the equipment lockers were all locked up tight, a guard or two scattered on each floor to be safe. In fact, it was so quiet and peaceful that anyone who was on duty or working late would not be faulted for getting drowsy. That is, right up until the furious shout that echoed through the corridors on Level 18.

"God dammit!"

Jerking awake, Daniel blinked rapidly, his hands scrabbling momentarily for anything with which defend to himself. It proved to be a useless task as he tumbled to the floor, his stool shooting out from under him as Jackson woke just as sharply and careened into the nearest solid object. The clatter as the stool tipped to the floor definitely woke both of them up. Rubbing first his eyes then his cheek where he had been laying on his arm, Daniel looked at his Wulfish companion.

"Thanks for the warning."

Jackson ducked his head sheepishly and whimpered.

"Yeah, I know. You were sleeping too and we should have gone home."

Daniel dragged himself to his feet, collecting the stool and righting it again. He didn't bother sitting down, knowing he was about to get harangued by an irate air force general, but instead calmly tidied up his desk. Jackson, sensing the wave of annoyance heading their way, ducked behind the desk and peeked out.

"Daniel!"

Jack O'Neill stood in the door way, glowering.

"Jack."

"What did I say to you…" O'Neill checked his watch, his movements jerky with ire. "Five hours ago."

Mildly, as he put various books back on the shelves, Daniel replied, "You said, quote, Daniel, go home before I smack you over the head and drag you home, unquote."

O'Neill paused, narrowing his eyes at the mild tone. Then he shook his head.

"And?"

"Obviously, I kept working, fell asleep and didn't go home."

O'Neill glanced down at Jackson and pointed.

"And you didn't nag at him?"

Jackson, his golden eyes wide, shook his head, flattened his ears and tried to make himself smaller. O'Neill growled at both of them. Daniel didn't even turn around – he kept tidying.

"Will you quit being so calm when I'm yelling at you!"

"Jack…I'm going, ok, I'm going." Daniel whistled to Jackson and moved to grab his jacket. O'Neill blocked his way.

"Jack."

"Why are you still here?" The generals' tone suggested that if he didn't like the answer, he was going to follow through on his previous threat. Daniel just stood there and looked at the older man. He had noticed that the lines around those intense eyes had deepened over the past couple of weeks since he and Hammond had talked O'Neill into staying – one of the most harrowing negotiations he had ever been part of. He had also noticed that his friend's temper was shorter, harsher, and that he, Daniel, tended to get the brunt of it. Not that he minded all that much – one of them was entitled to be angry and Jack had always been better at it.

He sighed and rubbed at his ribs, now bruised anew courtesy of the rude awakening.

"Because I got engrossed in what I was doing."

"That's all?" As those dark eyes narrowed, O'Neill found the anger draining from him. "Ok, Danny-boy, I'll let it go."

That earned him a surprised look as Daniel's eyebrow shot up and his cobalt eyes widened. Even Jackson sat back in astonishment.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that you were letting it go?"

"Don't push it, Daniel." The low growl made Daniel snort in amusement. O'Neill shook his head but a small smile twitched his lips. "Yeah, I know. I've been hell."

"Hate to break it to you, Jack, but you've _always_ been hell." Daniel looked into his friends' face, reaching to rest a hand on one broad shoulder. "I know I was, back then. So, you're allowed, I guess."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

O'Neill straightened, wincing as he registered how stiff he was. He sighed ruefully.

"Guess I should be leaving too…been behind the desk all day."

With Jackson between them, the two men walked through the corridors to the locker rooms. In silence they stripped out of their fatigues and into their civilian clothes. They didn't speak in the elevator but Jackson shoved at both of them to get scratched behind the ears. As they stepped out, flashing badges and going through the security gate, O'Neill looked down at the Wulf.

"I still owe you a steak."

"Wuff."

There was a cough behind him and a sheepish voice said, "I have beer."

O'Neill turned. Daniel shrugged at him. With a thoughtful rub of his chin, O'Neill made a decision.

"Let's stop by a store, grab some bits. I'll cook. You bring the beer."

Daniel watched him, suddenly a little suspicious of where this was going.

"Jack…as far as I remember, you trashed your kitchen."

Defensively, O'Neill spluttered, "I fixed it!"

Daniel chuckled.

"Sure, okay. You cook. I'll do beer." As he walked to his car, a thought struck him and he turned. "Jack!"

"Yeah?"

"Am I getting drunk tonight?"

"If you are, we both are!"

Daniel shook his head, opened the car, ushered Jackson into it, then climbed in. As he started the car, he sighed.

"I'd better bring a change of clothes."


	14. Chapter 14

"Teal'c."

The big man turned away from his woodwork to look at the woman who had so recently claimed his heart, a soft expression in his dark eyes. She smiled to see it, to know that it was for her that his usually dour and serious mien would lighten. It made her feel something light, soething airy, in the region of her heart. So it pained her to ask something that she was certain would cause him harm.

"Who is Shan'Auc?"

The pain that shot through him was as harsh and sharp as ever upon hearing the name. He blinked, slowly, his lashes drifting a little, and she realised she had hit a nerve.

"I'm sorry…I should not have asked…" Ishta reached out to him, her pale blue eyes suddenly shining with mixed emotion.

"No." He looked into her worried eyes and tried to smile. "It is fine. Where did you hear her name?"

"You whispered it in your sleep last night." Her fine features were stamped with concern and a hint of fear - whether it was for him or for her, he couldn't tell. He reached for her, bring her hand to his lips.

"She was a Priestess for Apophis. She believed she could teach symbiotes to turn against their nature. The symbiote she carried deceived her, pretending to be other than Goa'uld and joining the Tok'Ra. She was murdered by him hours later." Teal'c paused, the rage flushing his face again as he thought of his enemy. "I killed Tanith in vengeance many years ago."

She brushed her hand over his cheek in sympathy.

"You loved her deeply."

"I did." The look in her eyes made him take hold of her shoulders and look deep in her eyes. "But I love you, Ishta. Not a memory."

The proud blonde warrior woman stared up at him, her full lips pursed, her gaze raking his face as she sought to find the truth, the slightest hint of challenge in the lines of her body.

"Then why did you speak her name?"

"I dreamed last night." He paused and chose to only recite part of dream that had disturbed him so much the night before. "I dreamt that I was in the same room with her and the deceiver. It is a dream I have had many times. He kills her symbiote, allowing its blood to mix with hers. I cannot reach to stop him. When she is dead upon the floor, Tanith smiles at me and leaves. Only then can I reach Shan'Auc."

There was the shine of tears in Ishta's eyes and it hurt to see them there, for him. He turned away to continue, unable to face the woman he loved with grief for another in his eyes. He could feel her hesitate, unsure what to do for him, and breathed deep.

"I hunt for him through Tok'Ra tunnels, only barely keeping him in sight…" He paused, shaking his head in confusion. She touched his arm, gently pulling to turn him back to her so she could see his face.

"What is it?"

"Last night," He furrowed his brow in a confused frown. "I caught him - reached out to curl my fingers in his collar and spun the traitor to face me. Only it was not Tanith - it was O'Neill."

Ishta blinked in surprise, her lean fingers twining through his in support.

"He shouted at me, asked what it was I was doing. Then he raised a weapon. I cannot remember if he fired but I fell to the ground. He stood over me, calling to me." Deep eyes drifted away from her face, looking into a distance that had no physical means of reaching it. She rested her hand on his cheek to bring him back to her.

"And?" Her voice was soft – she could see the distress on his face from recounting his nightmare.

"And…I awoke. To you." He smiled then and she let him put the episode behind him. But for one question.

"Are you happy here? With me?"

"Always. My time with the Tau'ri was over. My son is wed, my people are free. And I have a beautiful woman," He laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, right over the tattoo of her former Goa'uld master. "Who is full of fire and passion to spar with."

She laughed at him, tilting her head back so her hair shone in the morning sunlight like a halo of gold.

"Is that what we do?"

Mischief flared in his dark eyes as he swept her up into his arms.

"Sometimes."

"Teal'c…do you miss them? Your Tau'ri friends?"

He stopped and considered this. With a soft sigh he gave her the honest answer she had expected.

"I regret we do not keep contact as frequently as I would prefer. But I know they are happy and pleased that I am content with my life. In that…I am satisfied."

Ishta trailed a finger over his brow, smoothing the frown from it as he carried her inside. In between kisses she whispered to him of a planet some Jaffa had found where there were ruins similar to those Anubis had sought previously. Somewhere amongst the distraction of her giggles and laughter, he agreed to travel there and see the world for himself the next day. Then he was lost as he gave himself over to the woman he loved.


	15. Chapter 15

"Sam!"

Carter spun round a little too fast, nearly tripping herself up. The man running up to her grabbed for her arm, hauling her upright and grinning madly.

"I thought Martouf was looking after you"

"He is…I haven't been out of bed for a week – he's fussed so much." She pulled a face then smiled warmly. "Hey Dad."

"Heya sport." Jacob Carter caught his daughter up into a warm hug. "You had me and Selmac worried, y'know."

Carter raised an eyebrow and her father laughed.

"Ok, I was worried. Selmac kept saying Jolinar would keep you safe." He shrugged. "You're my only daughter, what can I say."

Laughing, Carter tossed an arm over his shoulders.

"Love you too, Dad."

He winced.

"Don't say it too loud – Selmac will start nagging me that I've gotta be saying it myself."

They were both chuckling when Martouf came round the corner. He stopped, looking at them curiously. Jacob scowled at him suddenly.

"I thought you were looking after my daughter."

His pale eyes serious, Martouf started towards Carter.

"Are you well, Samantha? I thought that you were healing…"

She laughed, elbowing her father in the ribs none too gently and reaching to gently kiss her beloved on the cheek.

"I'm fine. We're fine." She mock-scowled at Jacob. "Dad is just being amusing."

The look of relief on Martouf's face was priceless and both Carters couldn't help laughing. It was so infectious, Martouf gave in and chuckled.

"One day I shall get used to your father's sense of humour." He bowed to the older man who offered his hand with a warm smile.

"Well met." Jacob smiled at the other two. "So, still going strong huh."

"If you mean are we happy, yes, we are." Carter tucked herself under Martouf's arm. He smiled down at her, his love for her softening the hard lines of his face.

"Jacob, I would not bring harm to Samantha for anything." The two men looked at each other and shared a moment of understanding. Within his mind, Jacob heard Selmac comment and laughed. The couple looked at him.

"Sorry, Selmac say that if we are quite finished discussing our complicated family, could we please get down to business."

"Of course," Martouf smiled apologetically before bowing his head. When he looked up again, it was Lantash who addressed them.

"The benefit of your counsel is required in the Chamber of the High Council, Selmac."

Jacob stepped aside and Selmac looked at his fellow Tok'ra curiously.

"Really? And upon which topic would they wish my opinion?"

"I have not been informed. The High Council would also welcome the experience of Samantha Carter."

Carter briefly conferred with her symbiote. It was Jolinar who responded.

"And I, Lantash?" She smiled, the knowledge of her love shining in her eyes. Lantash ducked his head slightly.

"My love, on this occasion I believe Samantha's experience with the Tau'ri will be required more than your experiences working as an agent among the enemy."

Jolinar laughed and allowed Carter to take back control. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to brush out the tangles. Martouf and Jacob both shook their heads at her.

"What?"

"Samantha, you look lovely."

She blushed. Indicating for Jacob, and therefore Selmac, to precede him, Martouf offered her his hand. Together they entered the Chambers and were immediately thrown into a heated discussion regarding a planet that scouts had recently found. Some members of the Council believed it to be a viable outpost, others as a possible homeworld for a short time and others wanted to leave it well alone. Carter was asked many times what her opinion as a soldier would be and each time she explained that she would have to view the site. It wasn't until Selmac raised his voice that everyone calmed long enough to listen.

"If we wish to learn the possible applications of this world, we shall need a small party to scout it. I propose sending four of us to search for signs of activity by any race and to determine the safety of the site." Selmac turned and caught Carter's eye. He twitched an eyebrow, a gesture that seemed out of place yet familiar. She nodded in assent and he continued, "I am nominating Samantha Carter as one member of that party. Her knowledge and experience as a soldier and scientist for the Tau'ri will prove valuable."

The vote was easily passed after that – no one dared to argue with Selmac, especially as he had just sent his hosts' daughter into the firing line. Carter asked Martouf to meet her at their quarters and waited for her father to leave the Chambers. She almost pounced on him.

"So, Dad, when do we leave?"

Jacob looked into her face, concern showing.

"Are you sure you can handle this?"

"It's bound to be a standard re-con. It'll be fine."

"Ok…" Jacob started then Selmac looked back at her. "You leave tomorrow."


	16. Chapter 16

**Warning:** Some mild language. Also the use of languages other than English - translations will be provided at the bottom.

* * *

The two men were drunk. Not fall-down drunk but neither of them wanted to try walking just in case. Jackson had disappeared out to the garden, cheerfully chewing on a large piece of beef that O'Neill had seared for him. For their own meals, he had cooked the meat to taste, tossed a salad together and even put a couple of large potatoes in the oven for jackets. By the time Daniel had arrived, laden down with alcohol, the general had tidied away all evidence of the sleepless nights he had been having and the food only needed plating up. 

They had eaten quietly, keeping conversation light and easy, chatting about nothing in particular. Daniel had started slowly, drinking one can through dinner to O'Neill's three. But whilst O'Neill had cleaned up, he'd slipped and downed three more. The sound of soft chuckling had clued O'Neill in that his light-weight friend was well on the way to being completely drunk. He had smiled sadly, cracking open his fifth, and taken a seat opposite the bleary eyed archaeologist. From that point, everything had started going hazy.

"Jack?"

"Yup?"

Daniel rubbed at his eyes, winced, removed his glasses, rubbed again and tried to see Jack's face. Replacing the glasses didn't help.

"D'you think we should, I dunno…go back to it?"

"What? Where?" O'Neill was sprawled in his favourite chair, one leg thrown over the arm, the other swinging. He blinked and repeated himself. "What? Where?"

"The planet." Daniel sneezed and rubbed his nose.

"The sneezy place?"

"Нет!" Waving his hands around, Daniel nearly spilled his seventh can. O'Neill just watched. "Нет… планета. Вы знаете планету."

"Daniel. You are making even less sense than usual. And that's probably coz you just said summat in Russian – I understood the 'no' part…" Taking a swig, O'Neill frowned, shaking the can at his ear. "Damn."

"PX sechs – W drei fünf acht – der Planet, weiβt du, der Planet!"

O'Neill dug another beer from the under the new coffee table. He frowned, trying to place the designation whilst ignoring the fact Daniel had just sputtered in what sounded like German. When he couldn't he shrugged, taking a deep pull from the can and tried to remember instead just how many he had had. Daniel pointed at him and said, "Axat׳esrei."

"A hat ess what?"

"Eleven." Nodding his head fiercely, Daniel winced. O'Neill shook a finger at him.

"Told you you shouldn't have more than five."

The younger man started to slide down to be almost horizontal.

"Not me. You."

"Ah." O'Neill pinched his nose. "I've had more. Kawalsky and I once drank a bar dry…course, we may have been hallucinating…I may have been…think I'd gotten shot…"

"I miss them." It was said quietly, almost the mere breath of sound. Looking across, O'Neill saw that Daniel had thrown an arm over his face, the can now forgotten on the side table. Running a hand through his hair, he looked at the grey strands he'd pulled out and sighed.

"I know. I miss them too." He put his half-full can down and slowly rose to his feet. When nothing wobbled or spun, he moved to look down upon the now sleeping form of his friend and comrade. First he pulled off Daniel's boots then tucked his legs up onto the cushions. He reached across, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch and settling it over the dark-haired figure. Sticking his head out the door, O'Neill whistled. A shadow detached from the side of the house and crept in past him to settle on the floor next to the couch. Reassured that Daniel was fine and Jackson was looking out for him, O'Neill stumbled through to his room where he dragged his shirt off then his shoes. He gently lowered himself to settle his head on the pillow, not bothering to strip off his jeans, and let the warm lull of alcohol push him into sleep...

_The rainforest surrounding him began to waver, the heat and humidity pressing down upon him. He tried to keep the sweat out of his eyes, creeping towards his goal. The camp should be ahead and that's where he could finally let himself go, having restrained himself the whole journey here He was angry. Angry that his friend had gone missing. Angry that someone had taken him. Angry because he knew that somewhere in that camp it was likely the rebels had used torture and he was damn well gonna make sure they paid for that mistake. As he moved closer, a thought strayed through, that this wasn't how it was, this wasn't what happened. He snarled at himself, shook his head, gripping the stock of his weapon tightly. This was real, this is what he was there to do – retrieval. And if the rebels didn't make it out…so what._

_The stillness worried him. It was too quiet. The camp was too quiet. There should have been a sentry. Should be people wandering around. He inched his way from cover toward the one hut with a closed door. His fingers twitched as he heard a scream and he had to move quickly to avoid being seen as the door swung open. Suspicious, always suspicious, he crept closer, peering round into the tiny building, searching the darkness. When he saw nothing, when his sense of danger gave him no warning, he slipped inside_.

"Daniel!"

_The familiar lean figure was lying on the floor, sprawled out as if he had been tossed there, a doll with no more use. A low moan made him start forward just as he caught sight of a blur from the corner of his eye. He had no time to bring his weapon to bear. His opponent slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. They rolled around, each trying to gain the upper hand. Suddenly his attacker went still. Looking down, he saw a familiar dark face, the light catching the golden emblem on the forehead. Gulping in shock, he started to back away…_

"Jack? Jack!"

_The call made him turn, bringing his hands up even as the second person rushed him. The whoosh of breath fluttered across his face as he stared into a pair of beautiful aqua eyes. Looking down he realised that his knife, six inches of steel, was buried to the hilt in her stomach. Horror etched his face as her features softened. Without thinking he shoved her away from him, jerking his hands back. She toppled gracefully to the floor, her hair glistening in the few rays that filtered through the tree tops. She lay there and looked up at him, a soft smile drifting over her lips. He wanted to say he was sorry, wanted to beg her forgiveness. But he couldn't move, even when she slowly reached out to him and sighed. As her eyelashes fluttered closed, the breath left her and he heard her say his name…_

"Carter!"

O'Neill almost leapt from the bed, the pistol he had stashed under the pillow in his hand and pointing. In the doorway, Daniel backed up a step, his hands level with his shoulders, Jackson bristling in front of him. O'Neill blinked at the pair.

"You gonna put that down or finally give in and shoot me after all these years?" The bleary-eyed archaeologist frowned slightly as he corrected, "Again."

"What?" Looking at the gun as if he hadn't seen it before, O'Neill sat back and slowly put it on the bedside table. He stared at it then chuckled dryly, "Least it wasn't a knife – I might have thrown it."

Daniel stepped forwards, using his knee to push Jackson out of his way.

"That would have been annoying." He leaned against the doorjamb, crossing his arms. For a moment, when O'Neill looked up, he thought he was seeing Daniel as an Ascended being again. Then Jackson moved, his tail twitching half-heartedly, and O'Neill saw his tired, confused friend looking back at him. Daniel sighed softly.

"I heard you yell my name."

"It was just a dream. Nothing." O'Neill flopped back onto the bed. A concerned look on his face, Daniel tried again.

"Jack…you yelled for Sam too. And I think you murmured something about Teal'c."

"Ok, ok." O'Neill sighed heavily, feeling very tired and even a little sore. "We were all there, ok? The clearing, the ruins – I came out from cover, you were lying on the ground. Teal'c attacked me, we scuffled, he died."

His blue eyes darkened by the knowledge that worse was to come, Daniel waited. Noticing the lack of vocal encouragement, O'Neill sat up and glanced up. He quickly looked away again as he said, "Carter came out of nowhere. And this time I didn't throw the knife, it was in my hands. Six inches of steel in her, blood on me. She fell to the floor, looked up and me and called me Jack. She never calls me Jack."

Daniel nodded, ignoring the use of present tense.

"Jack, either you need to get some counselling…" He ignored the curled lip. "Or some pills…"

"Don't work…"

"Would if you took them…" Daniel muttered before resuming, "Or…we go back to PX6-W358 and have one more look around. To lay the ghosts."

"And if I do none of the above?"

"Then Doctor Brightman will be forced to put to put you on indefinite medical leave due to stress."

Shocked, O'Neill opened his mouth to say something then closed it. Daniel sighed.

"We talked about it…before we talked you into staying."

"And you were going to tell me when?"

Shuffling awkwardly, Daniel confessed, "We weren't. We were just going to keep an eye on you and try and keep things as quiet as we could."

Rubbing at his face, the older man thought about his options. He hated to admit it but Daniel was right. As usual. He couldn't go on with this the way things were. He hadn't had a full nights sleep in three weeks and it was making him sloppy. Sloppy enough he had just pulled a gun, in his own house, on his best friend. Enough was enough.

"Fine. Tomorrow we go back to the planet and find out what the hell happened."

Daniel nodded once and turned to leave. He stopped when Jack said, "Daniel."

"Yes, Jack?"

"Thank you."

Those piercing cobalt eyes looked back. A soft smile traced his lips and Daniel murmured, "You've done it for me."

He disappeared back to the living area. Jackson wuffed quietly at O'Neill once, butting his head against the closest knee. Once his presence was acknowledged and a strong hand had rubbed his head, the Wulf followed his Partner. O'Neill watched them go and as he drifted back into sleep he thought to himself that this time, he would get his answers.

**

* * *

**

**Elsewhere**

"We have a problem."

"Explain."

"The desire to return to a familiar place is stronger in them than we first supposed."

"What of those we allowed to leave?"

"Indications are that they are continuing to believe the reality we created."

"Good. So it is merely these subjects that…"

"Are causing the issue, yes."

"Very well…allow them to continue. It is unlikely that they would encounter each other in their timelines. The risk of failure is minimal."

"Are you certain of this? After all the work we've…"

"The work we have done is nothing compared to the work that went before us."

"I know. It's just that we're barely learning how…"

"Enough. Let it continue."

"Of course…if I may ask why?"

"Let them live their dreams. So few of us do, after all."

* * *

**Translations:** Russian - No! No, the planet. You know the planet. 

German: designation followed by "The planet, you know, the planet."


	17. Chapter 17

Stepping from the Chappa'ai, the small group paused to take in the display. In the skies overhead, the swirls of pastel pinks, peaches and lavenders danced to the tune the universe played. Soft creamy clouds seemed to weave between the streaks of colour, providing a frame that only enhanced the peaceful, soothing effect. Two of the group grinned at each other, their fingers seeking each other out and linking almost of their own accord. As they moved forward they all found it hard to ignore the way the sky tricked them into believing that there were great creatures flying through the skies.

"Look!"

One pointed straight up. The shape she indicated was very much like that of a bird, tall, wings outstretched, soft flames framing the tail feathers.

"It's a phoenix!" The woman laughed, turning to the man to whom she had given her heart. He smiled at her joy, pleased to see the light of life in her eyes again after the scare she had given him.

"Samantha…if it is a phoenix, then it there for you and you alone." His voice was heavy with emotion and she had to touch him, reassure him that she was well and whole.

"I am here, Martouf. We both are." Carter sighed deeply, taking in the scents of this new world. "I could live here, happily."

"We must continue." They turned to look at the other two members of the scouting group. It was the darker skinned man who had spoken while the older looking man was scanning the area, watching carefully for any threat. "If we are to collect the information the Council requires then we should be moving on."

"You're right, Tallik. Sorry. It's just so beautiful." Carter looked up at the formation one more time. It was drifting slowly apart, dissipating into other forms, other pictures. She shared a look of appreciation with Martouf before following their comrades toward the forests.

The plants were many and varied and Carter began plucking a leaf and a flower from each. His eyes narrowing in query, Martouf took a flower from her hand. She smiled.

"There may be medicinal properties. We can at least look at the samples ourselves and pass on any that might be of use to the SGC."

He laughed at her, returning the flower with a playful flourish.

"Three years you have been with us and still you consider the SGC in everything." He brushed a kiss on her forehead. "I would be worried the day you didn't."

When he looked down, Jolinar looked back at him. When he leaned down to kiss her, it was him and Jolinar, Lantash and Carter…the merge between host and symbiote so complete that not one of the minds could tell who was who. But it was definitely Carter who blushed as they pulled apart and definitely Lantash who commented in his mind that perhaps the courting should wait until later. Almost shyly they broke apart.

"It's a good thing Daniel isn't here…he'd probably have sneezed his head off by now."

It was a throwaway comment, one she barely registered saying, but something about it struck her as odd. Before she could examine it further, a shout made her snap to attention. She couldn't see their companions and Martouf had all ready started to move towards the sound. Her military training kicked in – one moment she was still, listening, and the next she had tackled the other man, dropping them both to the floor and rolling them under cover. Instead of struggling with her, Martouf went still, trusting in her instincts. Within her, Jolinar studied the landscape, the pair of them working together to identify routes, threats and the reasoning behind their sudden caution. From the corner of her eye, Carter could see that her fellow Tok'ra was doing the same, his zat in his hand. She freed her own weapon, the feel of it in her hands jolting her, sending a shockwave through her mind. She blinked, stared at it for a moment, wondering why she felt horrified, why she caught a faint image of firing at someone on the ground, someone she knew. She shook her head violently.

The touch of a hand upon her arm made her freeze. Leaning in close, Martouf whispered in her ear, "Wait. I'll look."

Before she could argue, even with just an anguished glance, he had slipped away. Her gut instinct was to go after him whereas her head was telling her to stay put. It was Jolinar who reminded her she wasn't in the Air Force anymore and orders meant nothing now. It was Jolinar who pushed at her to get up and go after the ones they loved. And it was Jolinar that shivered in fear, her voice within Carter's mind full of trepidation for what was to come. But Carter was all ready moving, smoothly avoiding twigs and leaves, using all the cover possible so even Martouf didn't hear her as she appeared beside him. He blinked, the only reaction he allowed in his surprise. She grimaced at him, her annoyance plain. With a mimed sigh, he indicated that she stay behind him while he took point. Silently they moved on, searching for anything that could tell them where the rest of their team had disappeared to.

When they came upon a clearing, scattered with ruins, they both paused. Carter looked at her partner, shrugged, and moved carefully from cover, her body primed for a fight. As she reached the first fallen pillars and crouched behind them, Martouf moved out to follow her. For a brief moment she wished that her old comrades from the SGC were there and almost laughed. If there was one thing Daniel was particularly bad at, it was looking after himself in a fight – it had always been her or Jack or Teal'c who had ended up dragging him out again. She realised, ducked there behind a stone column, that she hadn't heard from any of them lately and made a mental note to visit once this was over. Her aqua eyes narrowed as something in the back of her mind tugged at her. Frowning, trying to ignore it, she took a look around.

Of all the things she had thought she might see, what was there was certainly not on the list. And from the look on Martouf's face, he hadn't expected it either.


	18. Chapter 18

They stepped from the event horizon into bright sunshine and a soft haze of scent from the nearby flowering bushes.

"Perhaps we should build a home here, Teal'c."

Turning his deep brown ochre eyes upon the speaker, Teal'c raised an eyebrow in query. A soft smile chased across Ishta's lips when she saw the familiar gesture. She nodded toward the horizon, the view expanded enough for them to see the valleys and plains of a world that would be perfect for the Free Jaffa Nation to colonise. On first glance, the land was perfect for farming – every plant grew tall, strong, full of vitality and the trees were large enough that one alone would suffice for making dining furniture and a couple of ornament tables. The skies overhead were patterned as if it were dawn yet the sun was high. On impulse, Teal'c strode to the large bush next to the Chappa'ai and plucked a stem. Creating a loop, he came up behind Ishta and fixed the flower into her hair. She felt for it gently with her fingers and smiled at him gratefully.

"Who would have thought the great warrior Teal'c would be so soft?" She teased, blue eyes flashing with her amusement.

"Only my woman could dare to say that of me." He said it sternly but the lightening of his eyes proved his mood false and the light brush of his lips proved that he was true to his heart. He whispered against her skin, "Do not tell O'Neill of this – he will never let me forget it."

"That he would not…but I am tempted to tell him nonetheless." She laughed as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her from the floor.

"You dare do such a thing and I shall find a way to punish you…perhaps by making you study needlework with the old mothers of Chulak!"

She wriggled in his arms, playfully slapping his arm.

"Fiend!" She laughed, tossing her head back. "You would not dare! I would send them all to their pyres with my impatience!"

Now they were free, she had lost some of the intensity she had harboured when they had first met. And he had lost some of his reserve. Between the two of them, they had learnt to express themselves and on this beautiful planet, alone, they had no one to hide from, least of all themselves. Slowly he released her and she snapped her teeth at him playfully.

"Let's scout the forest…we may find the ruins in there or at least some plants our healers may find of use."

Ishta moved off, her staff slung over her shoulder by its sling. She had her carry bag open, taking samples of any plant that looked familiar or similar to one she knew of. Teal'c kept his hands free, his staff held loosely in one hand, as wary as ever. He watched as she placed sample after sample into her bag.

"Perhaps we should pass some of your samples to the SGC - it is possible the Tau'ri may find some benefit from them."

Ishta glanced back at him, smiling.

"You have never stopped considering the Tau'ri, wherever we go, whatever we do." She plucked a few leaves as she spoke. "They are fortunate to have such loyalty as you offer them. A strength such as that is valuable. I know that they are most grateful for your friendship."

"I merely mention it as these seem similar to a plant that Colonel Carter had in her laboratory some time ago." Teal'c was turning a leaf from a rhododendron over in his fingers. The waxy, deep green teardrop did remind him of one of Carter's evergreen pet plants. It briefly reminded him of the comment she made to O'Neill on PJ2-445 about how she figured out the link between the plants and the people – 'I talk to my plants, okay?', she had said defensively. And he remembered one time when he did walk in and catch her murmuring to the plant. She had blushed, muttered something about just talking out a theory, and had sat down at her desk, glowering fiercely at Teal'c. He had merely raised an eyebrow, stepping aside as O'Neill had bounced in the door and begun his usual tirade about the ridiculous manners of, well, virtually every race and people who had ever annoyed him. Carter had been grateful for his silence.

Ishta took the leaf from him, a soft smile gracing her lips, and Teal'c went back to studying the surroundings, something about the trail they walked on seeming familiar to him. He grunted in acknowledgement of her words but wasn't truly paying attention. So when he heard shouts, in English, he was all ready moving. Ishta grabbed for her staff and raced alongside him, not questioning, her face set in determination. He risked a glance at her and almost smiled. Whilst he had enjoyed his time with the Tau'ri, it was with a Jaffa warrior at his side that he truly felt free. More importantly, it was with this Jaffa warrior. Briefly the thought shot through his mind that loosing her would possibly destroy him. Then it was banished as they heard another sound and halted.

For a moment, Teal'c had the impression that there should be more people. He blinked, shadows moving over the floor confusing him into thinking there really were another four people near him. Then Ishta moved, her slim frame radiating purpose, her eyes steely as she slipped stealthily sideways, her staff ready to fire. That small movement was enough to break Teal'c from his reverie and he too moved forward.

The clearing was littered with broken pillars, most carved with symbols that Teal'c was sure would interest the SGC, and a certain young archaeologist in particular.

"Ishta! We will need to contact the SGC once we have completed our survey. Daniel Jackson would be most interested in seeing these markings."

"Perhaps we should do so now." She glanced over at him, her attention fixed on one of the trails into the clearing. "I am feeling…"

"There is something wrong here." Even as he said it, Teal'c felt the unease spread over his skin like a chilled mist. He didn't hesitate when he heard a noise behind him. He didn't think. He acted to his training and spun, prepared to fight. What he saw, he did not expect. And from the look on Ishta's face, she was as surprised as he was.


	19. Chapter 19

**Genre**: ANGST!!!! Enjoy the angst!

* * *

PX6-W358 was exactly as they remembered it. Stepping out of the wormhole, both men had a sense of déjà vu, even down to the bush next to the Stargate that prompted Daniel to sneeze. Just as before, Jackson looked up, his golden eyes concerned. This time however, O'Neill did not joke.

"Okay…SG-4, guard the perimeter. Daniel, you're with me." He took a fierce grip on his P90, the only sign he had given since the night before that he was uncomfortable with being back. Daniel watched him, pain masked behind a veil of indifference he had erected to deflect the other members of the SGC. He was tense himself but he knew that unless they did this, unless they said goodbye properly, neither one of them would ever be fit for the field again – if they even wanted to come back out again. He looked down at his Partner, smiling sadly. This whole experience had knocked Jackson badly – he wasn't the easy-going pup he had been. Daniel missed that, hadn't realised how much he'd come to rely on it. He knew that O'Neill missed it too, although he had buried himself behind the walls of sarcasm and abruptness he favoured so much. They were both stooping a little, partly from mild hang-overs, as they made their way into the forest. And both knew that the SG team they had left at the 'Gate were chaffing at being left behind. For a moment, Daniel wondered if SG-4 thought they were going to be taking two more bodies home today. It wasn't as if the thought hadn't crossed his mind – he knew himself enough to know that if he lost Jack as well…he'd have nothing left.

In front of the young man, the aging general was thinking. He moved as if his full attention was on his surroundings but in truth, O'Neill's mind was turned inward. He was reminiscing about the good times over the past few years, and some of the bad times. He almost laughed when he remembered the look on the face of Niirti when she realised she was about to die. And remembering Hathor screaming as she fell into the cryogenic soup that killed her left him feeling avenged for what she had done to Daniel and for putting a snake in his own head. The more he thought, the more he remembered all the moments when he had felt vindicated or threatened or avenged. Numerous skirmishes with Jaffa, with the Replicators, with warring factions…they kaleidoscoped through his mind. In each snippet he saw their faces – the cold, hard determination in Carter's aqua eyes, the fierce loyalty on Teal'c's face and the will to survive that Daniel rarely showed until he was pushed too far. And he remembered too how delight would light the young Colonel's features when she was working with new technology, how excited Daniel would get when the pair of them could work together on an item. His kids. He couldn't help but think of them as that from the start…the boyish innocence of a young archaeologist and the brash youth of an up-and-coming Captain. Then of course the seasoned warrior, a brother-in-arms, the man who had told him that he was viewed as a younger brother. His kids, his comrades, his friends, his family. And two of them were dead. It was funny – he'd always thought that they would all go together, fighting their way out of a trap or a palace or defending the people they had sworn to protect. Not like this. Not separately.

The young archaeologist in question was wandering along behind the older man, his brow furrowed, his mouth frowning slightly. He too was remembering – when he was addicted to the sarcophagus and Jack had stayed with him, when Carter had been recovering from Jolinar's death and they had watched over her, when Teal'c had been brain-washed by Apophis and the team had sat with him. He remembered the diners out, the films in, the barbeque last summer at O'Neill's when he had invited the three of them and General Hammond and they had all sat and laughed over the years they had served together, Teal'c stoically sticking with his orange juice. He tried not to dwell too much but as always his mind betrayed him and he began to think back on all the times they had gotten into trouble and fought their way out. He remembered how fraught he had been when the other three had gone to Thor's ship to deal with the Replicators and he had been stuck in the Infirmary. He remembered how worried they had all been when Carter had been abducted by Adrian Conrad, how concerned they'd gotten when Teal'c had been stung by that bug and torn out his symbiote. He remembered watching Ba'al, gloating, as he had tortured O'Neill over and over again and how helpless he had felt that he couldn't do anything about it. And he remembered how invincible they had been feeling after defeating the Replicators once and for all, together, all hale and hearty. The thought struck him then that despite everything they had been through, he really hadn't imagined life without any of the others. Now that was what was ahead of him – no Carter, no Teal'c. He felt as if someone had taken a part of him away, that he couldn't be himself anymore. As O'Neill stumbled in front of him, Daniel knew that his was not the only mind working overtime.

"Jack…maybe we should stop for a moment."

O'Neill grunted.

"Jack."

"What?" There was anger in those dark eyes. Daniel tapped the water bottle he'd pulled from his pack.

"Brief rest. My head's thumping."

"Sure." O'Neill consented to lean against a tree. "For a bit."

Jackson looked from one man to the other, his senses having picked up the difference in them both since they had arrived. The bitter metallic tang had returned to both scents, covering the fresh earth, leather and gun oil of O'Neill and the parchment, clay and slightly vanilla of his Partner. It worried him, the young Wulf not being accustomed to such emotion, and made him uneasy. He wanted to leave this place, the heaviness of the air pressing down on him, his every instinct screaming at him to run. But the men were not as attuned as he was – they didn't know that danger was coming and he, Jackson, had no idea of how to warn them.

Daniel broke an energy bar in half, offering a piece to his Partner, and was a little concerned when Jackson didn't immediately take the snack.

"Jackson." The Wulf glanced back at his name and Daniel wafted the bar in front of his nose. "Do you want this or not?"

Daintily the Wulf took the proffered treat, chewing once and swallowing. O'Neill chuckled.

"My reaction too – eat it fast before it turns to dust." He stood up, stretching. "Come on, if we get a move on then we can have this over and done and be home before dinner."

Sighing, Daniel pushed himself up from where he had been leaning, brushing bits of bark from his sleeves. They set off again, Jackson circling them like a worried collie fussing over his sheep. If the mood hadn't gotten so serious, the men would have noticed and laughed. If the mood hadn't become so introverted, the men would have noticed and been more on their guard.

Stepping into the clearing where everything had started, O'Neill frowned at the floor. Daniel moved to lay a hand on the pillars he had been studying but the upraised hand of the officer made him pause.

"What is it?"

"Did the MALP show any readings regarding a heavy rainfall in the past month?""

"Err…no." The skin around his eyes tightening in suspicion, Daniel moved to look at the same spot of bare floor O'Neill was staring at. "Why?"

"Because this is too clean."

"What?"

O'Neill shuffled, his eyes darting round the clearing.

"It's too clean. When someone bleeds out, they leave a patch. Only heavy rain and the activity of worms, or similar, will get rid of it. It stains the earth. There is no sign that there are worms on this planet, Daniel, and there's been no rainfall." O'Neill took a step back, his whole stance that of a man waiting for the ambush.

"What does that have to do with an ordinary patch of earth?" Daniel could feel it, a low humming that seemed to resonate in his bones.

"That earth should be stained – it's where Carter fell." The general's tone was getting more and more strained. Between them Jackson had started growling. Daniel unholstered his nine-mil, not sure what he was aiming at but suddenly needing the security of a gun in his hands.

"That seems odd." He said mildly, trying to stay calm. O'Neill nodded sharply.

"More than odd…something's wrong here, Daniel. Let's get back to the 'Gate."

Together the three moved, swiftly taking the nearest trail, eyes constantly searching the undergrowth. The humming grew, vibrating within them. The louder it got the harder it was to concentrate on what they were doing.

"Daniel! Run! Just run!"

At the sudden panic in his friend's voice, Daniel turned. O'Neill was staring behind him, weapon raised. He glanced back, saw that Daniel had stopped.

"Dammit Daniel! Get outta here!" Firing off a couple of shots, O'Neill spun and started sprinting for the 'Gate. Daniel matched him, both trying not to look back. Jackson ploughed the way for them, leading them on as straight a path as possible.

Suddenly there was a breathless yelp. O'Neill stopped. Behind him, about three metres back, Daniel had slipped. He'd hit the deck hard. O'Neill moved toward him, intending to grab him and get him back on his feet. But the shout stopped him.

"Go Jack! I'll be right behind! Go!"

Stopping just long enough to see his friend stand up, O'Neill turned to continue and slammed straight into a wall of air. Dazed, he stumbled back, his heel catching a root. Landing on his back, he saw the shadow creep up his legs, a wave of cold that prickled as the humming grew louder in his ears. He couldn't bring the P90 up in time. As he tried to draw breath to scream at Daniel to get out, the shadow wrapped itself around him, sinking down his throat, filling him with ice. The last thing he saw was darkness and the last thing he heard was a voice shouting his name.

"Jack!" Daniel saw the older man fall. He tried to get to him but something caught at his ankle. Looking down he was horrified to see a tendril of blackness wrapping itself around his leg. He tried to kick it off but it tugged, pulling him to the floor. He heard a bark somewhere to his left.

"Jackson!"

He fought to get away from the blackness but it just kept coming. He tried to look over his shoulder, make sure that O'Neill had gotten away. He saw the shadow cover his friend, enveloping him in darkness.

"Jack!" Even as he shouted, it was too late. Daniel felt the cold take hold and as he started to shiver, the creeping tendrils spread tenderly over his face, leaving him in darkness.


	20. Chapter 20

**Warning**: Violence, Death and plenty of angst...

**Author's Note**: Long...you may want a mug of coffee to kick back with...

* * *

The Jaffa stood right in the middle of the clear space. There were two of them, each armed. The tattoos on their foreheads proclaimed them to be from two Goa'uld masters, which meant that either they had been taken in by a third Goa'uld or their masters were working together. Either way, this was not a good sign.

Carter silently questioned this disturbing development.

_I thought the Council were sure that no one else had been here or was coming here._

_They did…it seems that someone was mistaken along the way._ Jolinar was calm, her older mind impressing upon that of her host in order to keep them both out of sight.

_Do you recognise the tattoos?_

_One of them. It is that of Cronos. The other…is not familiar. At least, not right now. I may remember it._

_Never mind…let's just get out of here._

Looking round Carter realised that Martouf had slowly moved away, positioning himself so that he could provide her with cover fire if they needed to run for it. Neither of them wanted to get into a fire fight if they could help it, especially not knowing how many Jaffa there were. Their eyes met and, as they had been able to do since they first met, they spoke silently to each other. Swinging round, Carter edged away from the cover of the fallen pillars, her Tok'ra boots easily muffling her sliding steps. She had insisted on keeping some camouflage clothes when she had left Earth and was now very grateful she had. In his sand coloured jacket and trousers, Martouf would be spotted easily amongst the deep greens of the undergrowth so either they had to take the Jaffa out or pray that they were very lucky. Of course, being lucky was never a constant in Carter's life.

"Cree!"

Martouf instantly reared up from cover and started firing. The Jaffa dove for cover themselves, making Carter duck into as tight a ball as she could to avoid being seen. As the three men exchanged fire, she belly-crawled to a position where she could lay down covering fire. At this point, she knew they were on their own. The two Tok'ra who had come with them were nowhere to be seen and considering the shouts they had heard, it was likely that the Jaffa had found them first.

"Shit." Carter dove to one side as a blast from a staff hit a spot just right of where she had been. So much for trying to sneak her way out into deep cover. Taking a deep breath, she poked her head up to get a quick look at where the enemy were situated. Judging by the blasts from the staff weapons, if she moved just right, she could catch them in a cross-fire with Martouf. But it would mean moving fast and making sure she judged it just right. She knew that Martouf was trying to circle round to her last position so she needed to careful she didn't catch him out.

Quietly, carefully, she edged backwards, around the rocks she had used for cover. Peering round them she estimated that to get to the point she wanted she would need a distraction. Luckily, Martouf chose that moment to fire a few times at the hiding Jaffa.

_They're learning to duck._ Jolinar's amusement and contempt echoed through her mind.

_Not now!_ Trying to concentrate was hard enough without having a symbiote distracting her – Carter dove forwards, hitting the deck with one shoulder and rolling into a crouch, her weapon tracking. She got off two shots, saw one of the Jaffa fall, and promptly ducked behind her new shield. She could hear the cursing and deliberately blocked out the automatic translation in her head – some of the Jaffa swore worse than marines. For a moment she wanted to laugh – in the short time she had been with the SGC she had often heard Colonel O'Neill cussing under his breath, although he had always kept it light as if he didn't want to upset anyone else while he let off some steam. A shout brought her back to the present and she risked a look to see what was happening.

Somehow the Jaffa had grabbed Martouf and dragged him out into the open.

"Tok'ra, cree! I will kill him!"

_Lantash!_ The shock of fear made her jerk.

_We'll get him. Stop distracting me!_

Taking a deep breath she peered around the rocks again as the Jaffa prepared to fire. Even as she leapt up, even as she swung to fire twice with her zat, she knew she was a second too late. The burst of fire from the staff erupted just as the electricity reached the Jaffa. He went down, convulsing wildly. Not stopping, knowing that she'd hit him with both shots, Carter ran for Martouf.

"Martouf? Lantash?"

"Samantha." His face was creased with pain. The front of his tunic was missing, replaced with the wide burn mark of a close range staff burst. Without looking, she knew it was severe enough that a sarcophagus was needed or nothing else could be done. From the look in those eyes, grey with pain, Martouf knew it too.

"I'm sorry…I should have been faster…" Carter took one of his hands, pressing it to her cheek, the tears flowing all ready. He smiled at her, his love for her outweighing the pain for a few moments.

"If I am to die, I would rather it be now, in your arms, than have passed never knowing and loving you." His voice was rough, strained. His words cut her to the heart. Within her she could hear Jolinar wailing. She had to close her eyes against the noise in her own head. When his fingers twitched against her face, she looked at him.

"Hold me, Samantha." He didn't make a sound as she gathered him into her lap. And as he smiled up at her and breathed his last breath, Jolinar cried for centuries of love with Lantash and Samantha Carter cried for the three blissful years she had had with Martouf.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The two metallic spiders paused in the middle of the clearing. Teal'c watched them warily, ready to spring away at the first sign of attack from either shape. He couldn't help the thrill of fear that shot through him, seeing these creatures on a planet with no technological resources. He had thought that the Replicators were defeated, that the weapon upon Dakara had destroyed them all. After all, had not he and Bra'tac fought to gain the planet for that reason? To free the galaxy from the Replicator threat and reclaim a Jaffa stronghold? He slowly turned his head to look at Ishta. She was stock still, her cerulean eyes fastened on the metal menace in front of them. The clacking sound they made as they moved was enough to break anyone's nerve but the Jaffa warriors stood firm.

"We must not allow them to believe we are a threat." Teal'c dropped his voice as quiet as he dared.

"Can we not destroy them?"

"Not with these weapons. A staff will knock them back but will not disable them." Teal'c eyed one of the bugs as it crept a little closer. "Tau'ri weapons have proved the most effective in previous encounters."

"I thought that these had all been destroyed." Ishta hissed, her hands shaking.

"Indeed. As did I." It took all his will not to flinch as one of the Replicators' came within a few inches of his boot. He could see Ishta was shaking. She may face down a ha'tak full of raging Jaffa but a Replicator was something she had not encountered before and with the things he had told her about them…she had probably hoped never to see one. But here, right now, were two. Even as she tensed, drawing herself slowly up to stand straight and defiant, the second spider moved to stand in front of her. It almost seemed like it looked at her, daring her to move. Then with a loud screech, it flapped its' metal carapace and dived at her feet.

Both Jaffa sprang away, but to Teal'c's horror, the two Replicators followed Ishta's path. He sprinted after them, not quite sure how he was going to defend them both against the near-indestructible robots without Tau'ri weaponry. All they could do was run for the Chappa'ai and hope that they could dial home before the Replicators' killed them. For the first time since he had left Earth, Teal'c found himself desperately wishing that the rest of SG-1 were with him.

Ishta was a little faster than he was, being that bit lighter, and she was pulling away, the Replicators following closely. Teal'c tried to increase his speed, his mind racing as to how he was going to fight with an impotent weapon. When he saw the P90 lying on the floor, he didn't hesitate to sweep it up into his hands, dropping the staff. It didn't occur to him to question what it was doing there or even to wonder how a Tau'ri weapon had ended up on an unexplored planet. He was completely centred on catching up with the woman he wished to wed and the evil that pursued her. The trail was easy to follow and the blasts from a staff easier to trace. When he burst from the tree line, he skidded into the fight.

Ishta was whirling, striking and stabbing with her staff in an attempt to make the foul creatures back away. They were darting around her, almost toying with her, never letting her stop moving.

"Ishta!" He aimed the weapon and she dived away as he opened fire. The Replicators, suddenly aware of this new threat, turned. Concentrating his fire on one, it shattered, blocks scattering through the air. A staff blast from his right distracted the remaining creature and he happily destroyed the other bane to life.

Both Jaffa stared at the remains.

"Where did they come from?" Ishta's bright eyes were wide, he thought with fear and adrenalin. Stepping toward her, Teal'c went to take her in his arms and was confused when she stepped back.

"Ishta? What is wrong?" His deep brown eyes wavered, worry spilling over into his expression. The blonde half-smiled and he suddenly realised she was favouring her arm. "Let me see."

"It is nothing, Teal'c." She whispered it even as she fell to the floor. He barely managed to catch her, snagging the offending limb and paling at the sight of the long gash.

"Ishta…we must get you home."

The soft touch on his face made him pause.

"Teal'c, it is poison. Please, let me die where I wish to. Here, with you, loving you." The pain, trust, love and sorrow in her eyes made me want to weep. His head bowed over her and their lips brushed. She looked at him again and smiled.

"Take care of my children." She whispered.

"Always." He replied, just as she took a deep breath. Then she grimaced, sighed, and he watched as her features smoothed into serenity. Kneeling there, on an unnamed planet, Teal'c cradled the woman he loved in his arms and began to weep for his failure to save her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SG-4 barrelled into the Gateroom, shouting and cursing. Up in the control room, Harriman stared at them in shock until the shouts of 'Close the Iris' sunk in. As the metal petals whispered shut, Doctor Brightman swept in with her team and a gurney.

"What's going on?"

Captain Jenks stepped forward, a mass of grey and gold fur in his arms. Carefully he laid the Wulf on the gurney.

"We heard him barking, ma'am. We went after the General and Doctor Jackson, figuring they must be in trouble. When we reached their position, all we found was Jackson here and these."

He held up Daniel's glasses. Brightman looked at the lenses then at Jackson.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"Ma'am, there was no sign of SG-1. And Jackson…well…we had to zat him."

"What!" Without thinking, the medical woman stroked the golden streaks sympathetically.

"Ma'am, he was frantic. We were calling to him but he was crying so hard…I tried to get close and he jumped at me. He was snapping and growling at thin air. If we could have gotten him back another way, we would have."

Shaking her head, Brightman patted the large head. Jackson whimpered quietly.

"You poor thing…that's twice in a month. You're definitely turning into a member of the team, aren't you." She rubbed behind one ear affectionately. "There was nothing?"

"No ma'am."

"Very well. I'll see the four of you for your post-mission check up in half an hour."

As she headed out the door, Jenks called after her.

"Doctor Brightman!"

"Yes?"

"Will he be okay?"

She sighed.

"I don't know, Captain. Without his Partner…I really don't know."

She rested her hand on top of the young Wulf's head, hoping that she wouldn't have to watch him fade away because all of SG-1 were now dead.


	21. Chapter 21

**Genre:** ANGST!!! MORE ANGST!!!!!

* * *

The figures weren't supposed to move. They were supposed to be restful, content. But these…they fought. They struggled. They moaned with pain and with fear. They were not like the others in that way – the others were quiet, sleeping peacefully. 

"Increase the dosage."

"We can't."

"What?"

"It is the Will."

"Then we can but watch over them…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Daniel stood on the edge of the balcony. His feet were bare. He wore sweatpants and a light grey sweater. His hands where he clasped the rail were pale, the knuckles starkly red in contrast. What little could be seen of his profile indicated his eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and regular. He didn't seem to notice the sounds of the traffic moving by four storeys below him. Nor did he appear to care that the wind was picking up from being a light, playful breeze to something that could catch him off-balance._

_O'Neill stood in the doorway and looked at his friend, his first instinct to rush forwards and grab. He banished that instinct, along with his fear, stamping it down as he took a deep breath. Slowly he stepped out so he could dive for a hold if he had to. Carefully he said, "Daniel? Daniel. What are you doing out here?"_

_"None of it means anything."_

_"Um. Daniel, why don't you come inside here."_

_"I tried, it just goes away." Daniel didn't seem to be really hearing what was being said to him. It made O'Neill nervous._

_"Okay, we'll ah, get it back."_

_"You can't get it back." His shoulders were shaking, not with repressed fear but as if he were trying desperately not to break down._

_"Whatever's wrong, we'll fix it." O'Neill was trying not to move, trying not to leap forward._

_"You don't even know what I'm talking about." Daniel's knuckles began to pale until they were whiter than the rest of his skin, his voice racked with pain._

_"No, no I don't." O'Neill swallowed, knowing without a doubt that he had to say something now or it was all going to go horribly wrong._

_"Just, come inside."_

_The younger man didn't turn, didn't blink, didn't do anything to show he had heard. He just smiled. O'Neill could see the slight upward turn at one corner of his mouth. For some reason it made him feel cold. For some reason, he suddenly felt afraid. He took a step forward, his body no longer paying attention to logic or reason, and snatched for the fabric of the sweater. It was too late. He caught at the rail, stopping himself from going over and saw those cobalt eyes staring up at him, that familiar smiling face, then Daniel's body turned in the air until it hit the walkway below._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Stop." The voice was croaky, hoarse from grief. "Please, stop."

The other voice rang out, less throaty, higher pitched with terror.

"Oh God, no! No! Not her again! Please! PLEASE!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_The red headed woman was everything. Her beautiful face was as heaven to him, her body the shrine he would worship to the end of his days. Whatever she wanted of him he would give her if she were ever to ask. Her smile was brighter than the sun and her kisses were as intoxicating as the most potent alcohol he had ever tasted. She was the ultimate narcotic and he was hopelessly addicted to her every waking moment._

_Deep within, where his subconscious rested, he knew there were screams of horror. Sometimes, when she had been away from him, he felt like he was dragging himself up from under a mountain of cotton wool, every sense becoming clearer and more defined every second. In those few moments he would begin to remember that she was dangerous, vicious, vile and evil. He would begin to recall that he hated everything she was with a passion that frightened his friends on occasion. Then she would return. She would whisper to him of how important he was to her. She would tell him that he was her pharaoh, her king, her lord, and how together they would rule the galaxy side by side. As she stepped close to him, he found all his fears, all his doubts, melted away._

_When he woke, she had left him again. Lying there on the bed, he felt cold. He felt sick. He wanted to wrap himself in the bedclothes and cry. The real person inside of him began to shout and scream, battling to recover their sanity. Slowly the real self dug its' way back into full consciousness. Leaping from the bed, Daniel barely managed to reach a corner where he was quietly but thoroughly sick. As he sat back on his heels, shivering, he tried to think of a way to escape, anything he could do just to get away from the Goa'uld bitch that was using him._

_But as he heard her voice outside the door, he felt the part of him that was enthralled respond. And deep inside his own mind, Daniel Jackson screamed and begged for someone to kill him as Hathor stepped close and pressed her lips to his once more._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Why does this one scream so?"

"I am unsure in this. The reality he lives is not pleasant to him. It is strange that this would happen."

"Is it a malfunction?"

"I do not know. The readings indicate that the emotion is real…both the positive and the negative. It is like he has never experienced one without the other or has never been able to fully imagine one without the other."

"And the other? He does not scream. But he cries, silently."

"Again, there seems to be a misrepresentation of the readings. I can't understand it. They must both have positive, happy, memories. But they do not, can not, live them."

"I…I am not comfortable with this."

"You…aren't? But we have no choice in this. You know this as well as I. It is not we who choose…"

"I know…I know…It is the Will and we are Servants to the Will."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_They were joking, laughing, enjoying being in love and having a home with a family. They were making plans, whispering, teasing each other as she tried to tend to the garden. The gunshot echoed across the street. The couple looked up, thinking that someone was partaking in shooting practice at first. Then the reality hit them and the man ran for the door. He sprinted up the stairs, knowing exactly which room he had to go to. He tried not to think the worst, hoped that his immediate instincts were wrong, although he had never been wrong before. When he got there…his heart broke…his mind blanked…his body reacted, did all it should in such a situation…but he wasn't there. Jack O'Neill stood in the rain, outside the hospital, and allowed his tears to mingle with the falling water, the guilt over his gun killing his son embedding itself in his very soul…_

_Sitting at the table, the people believing they were honoured guests, he had believed that he would be able to bring back the one thing that was most precious to him. He had sat there amongst the finery, eating a little from the mass of food that had been laid out, watching his two companions working through the situation in their minds. He had truly believed that he would be able to return home. Then he saw her…on the arm of Apophis. His wife, his Sha're, wrapped in fine cloth, wearing a head-dress, her beautiful face hard and cold, her expressive eyes glowing with the born arrogance of a Goa'uld. He sat in the dirt, his brother-in-law by his side, knowing that if he had left the Stargate buried he would still be at his home with his wife, and thinking that, Daniel Jackson felt the icy cold hand of guilt take a grip on his heart…_

"Gods, no! Charlie!"

"Sha're!"

And another voice joined them. Then another. As if the four were linked. As if they knew the pain that each suffered.

"Martouf!"

"Ishta!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The young woman sat at her desk, staring at the wall. She had run away from the containment room, unable to bear the crying. She knew that it was the Will, that she must obey, but she felt as if her heart was breaking whenever she heard one of them cry out. She knew nothing of what had brought them here, nothing of why they had been taken. All she knew was that their pain was destroying her slowly, deep inside. And she had to find a way to stop it from destroying them completely. But first, she had to find a way to talk to one of them and to do that she had to get a dear friend to help her join the dreaming.


	22. Chapter 22

Daniel looked up from his desk. Standing in the doorway was a young woman with large grey eyes and hair so blonde it was almost white. She seemed very unsettled - her eyes flickering round the room whilst the fingers on one hand looked as if they would dislocate so hard was she twisting them - and his immediate reaction was to try and reassure her somehow. So he put his glasses back on, rubbed at his nose and smiled at her. She seemed a little shocked at his friendly behaviour and it took him some discipline not to chuckle.

"Can I help you?"

She flicked her braid over her shoulder, a gesture that looked habit, and twisted her fingers together even harder.

"No."

She sounded as nervous as she looked. Daniel got up from his chair and moved closer, noticing how she cringed slightly. For a moment he wondered if maybe he had accidentally bumped into her around the base, treading on her toes or something, but he honestly didn't recognise her. So he kept smiling, not realising the impact he was having on her.

She was staring. She had realised what a gambit this was but not how mesmerising his blue eyes were. No one she had ever met had had blue eyes, like the waters of the sea or the colour of the sky. She wanted to ask him so many questions. But all she could do was stare into those eyes and whimper at the thought that he would hate her and all her people for what they had allowed to happen.

Daniel started in surprise when she dropped to her knees and abased herself before him. With a chagrined expression, he reached down to help her to her feet. She twisted away from him, sliding across the floor to press her back against the wall, her grey eyes staring up at him full of fear and guilt. She opened her mouth to speak and instead began to sob. Without thinking, Daniel dropped to the floor and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, it's okay. Whatever is going on, I can help, I'm sure. Come on, it's okay."

"No. It is not. It is no well. I am to die for this."

"Hush." He held her tighter, a little worried that she would shake into pieces, so hard was she trembling. "Everything will be fine. Just tell me what happened and we can sort it out."

She pulled away, looked into his eyes and shook her head fiercely.

"As long as you are trapped, Doctor Jackson, then your world, your mind, will never be fine."

"Trapped?" Daniel half-laughed. "I'm not trapped. Ok, so Jack tells me I should get out more often but…"

"You are trapped, Daniel Jackson. And it is something over which we had no control. But now I know the pain you suffer, I cannot let it continue."

That made him sit back and look at her.

"Who are you?"

"I am Ianiis. I am a Guardian of the Will. And the Will has you trapped."

"Right." Slowly Daniel got to his feet and reached for the telephone on the wall. She watched him.

"That will not work."

Sure enough, there was no dial tone. So he tried the phone on his desk. Nothing. Out of curiosity and the sinking feeling that this was getting worse by the second, he tried to turn his computer on – dead. Swallowing, wondering if maybe this was all a bad dream, he turned to look at the woman still sobbing on his office floor.

"What's going on?"

"Wait…my companion is coming."

Sure enough, a man appeared, with the same grey eyes but hair as black as coal. Literally appeared. From mid-air. Daniel blinked several times before sniffing his coffee mug suspiciously.

"You have not been drugged in that manner, Doctor Jackson." The young man had knelt beside Ianiis and was stroking her hair gently. "No, this is much more than drugging your beverage."

"And you are?"

"I am Jianne. And we are here to break you from the Will."

Rubbing his face, Daniel held up a hand.

"The Will?"

"It is a great machine, our protector. It has been part of our world for many generations, protecting us from many threats and those who would enslave us."

"The Will is complicated and we do not have the memories to operate all of its many systems anymore." Iannis continued. "But we can break you and your friends free."

"My friends?" Daniel was becoming more sceptical by the second yet something about the way these two people were looking at him made his skin crawl.

"Ianiis, leave. Go and prepare the window."

Just like that, she disappeared. Starting to think he was having a psychotic episode, again, Daniel walked out of the office and started to head for the Infirmary. Jianne followed him.

"Please, you must listen."

Daniel kept walking. He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them he was standing in a wooded area, in full kit. He looked down at the nine millimetre on his hip, the zat on his thigh. He reached up and felt the bandanna he favoured for warmer worlds. Looking around, he saw no sign of his team, just Jianne, his grey eyes confused. Daniel blinked again, hard.

"I assure you, this is real. At least, how you perceive it is real."

"I must be dreaming." Daniel muttered.

"In essence, yes, you are." Jianne scratched at his dark haired head. "That is the Will. We don't have time to explain, only to free you. But we understand that we must explain at least somewhat or you will not believe us. So…"

He waved a hand and what appeared to be a window shimmered into view. With caution, Daniel circled it. The rectangle hung three feet off the floor and was like a section had been cut from space to show a different place entirely. As he looked through, he saw himself and O'Neill, both restrained, wires protruding from their temples, chests and upper arms. As he jerked back in shock, he noticed himself jerking in the same movement upon the table. His eyes widened and he turned to stare at Jianne. The young man took a step back.

"I am sorry."

Suddenly, Daniel remembered. He remembered PX6-W358. He remembered Teal'c and Carter dying there. He remembered coming back with O'Neill to say goodbye. He remembered believing he was back in Hathor's grasp. He remembered seeing Sha're taken by Apophis again. He remembered waking on the wrong side of the balcony. He remembered the pain of the addiction to the sarcophagus. It was as if he were living each moment again and the emotions washed over him, battering him. He hadn't realised he had fallen to his knees until he looked up at Jianne's face.

"I am sorry." Jianne knelt to be level. "It has all gone wrong. You and your companion, O'Neill, should be living a happy life. But you seem caught in tragedy. That shouldn't happen. Ianiis and I – we won't allow your dreams to destroy you."

"What happens?" His voice was a little shaky but he managed to seem strong.

"If you dream happily, then you are truly happy. But negative dreams can cause damage. We have had some dream of their deaths and that dream has become reality."

"So…" Daniel slipped his hand down to his leg. "Let me get this straight: this is my dream. My dream is my reality. If I dream of hurting someone or myself in my dream, it becomes reality."

"A death in the dream…" Jianne swallowed and had the grace to look away. "We have had three deaths. All were killed in their dreams and the mind simply stopped because they believed so hard."

"Right…" With a snarl, Daniel was on his feet, zat in his hand. "So, if I shoot you with this, what will happen?"

Jianne's eyes widened in fear.

"You'll, what, suffer a seizure? Second blast kills in reality – would it kill your mind if I shot you twice, right now?"

"Please! We didn't know! We just wanted to be safe! If we could have stopped this we would!"

"What about Jack? What has he been dreaming?" Daniel was snapping, his temper rising fast.

"He has dreamt of being too late to save you. Of loosing Carter and Teal'c. Of his son."

"The worst moments of his life. Those times he couldn't prevent or the times he nearly didn't prevent." Daniel nodded, the horrid truth of his own memories making sense. "And my memories…"

He almost choked, the scent of Hathor drifting past him as he tried to shove that particular recollection as far away as he could. Jianne watched him, careful not to move. Daniel looked back at him, his eyes filled with pain.

"What about Carter and Teal'c? Was that a dream?" His voice was wavering, his body almost demanding that he rid himself of the pressure building inside.

Jianne looked away. The zat blast landed just short of his knees. He gasped and flinched away, Daniel stepping forward to keep close.

"Well?!" Growling at the smaller man, Daniel grit his teeth. "Tell me!"

"That was real." Jianne whispered the words then quickly raised his voice in explanation. "To you and O'Neill. They were copies, replicas. The true beings were all ready within the Will. They are still alive."

Daniel was shaking with the rage that was spiking through him. To be faced with his worst memories, to know that O'Neill had been trapped with his, as if they were real, happening right at that moment…he didn't dare imagine what Teal'c and Carter were dreaming.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you for this."

Jianne shrunk, his voice growing small and laden with sorrow.

"Because we have no control over the Will."

Ianiis reappeared, immediately moving to blanket her companion's body with her own. At that moment, his blood pounding through his temples as his rage threatened to consume him, Daniel didn't care – he would have shot both of them.

"Please! It is true. We have no control. It is complicated. Truly. Please. Believe us." Her grey eyes stared into his own blue as she pleaded with him to listen, begged him to believe. The tears in her eyes shimmered softly and he found that he couldn't bear being so cruel. Slowly, Daniel released his death-grip on the zat and lowered it. Jianne almost cried at the sign of being spared. Carefully, Daniel sank to the floor and looked at the terrified couple. His face softened as he realised that they were, at least in levels of maturity, a lot younger than he was. Smiling tiredly, he sat down, crossing his legs and indicated for them to join him. They looked like frightened children, reacted to his change of heart like dogs spared a beating. He couldn't keep the anger at them alive. But he could find out what was going on.

"Ok," He began. "Explain it to me. Everything. And once you've explained it to me, we have to find a way to talk to Jack. Because if you can free me, you can free them...and I'm not leaving them behind."

The two young people looked at each, agreement settling upon each face before they both grinned in joy and promptly told him everything.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Iannis is pronounced "Ee-an-ess", Jianne is pronounced with a soft J, such as in Djinn, followed by "ahn" 


	23. Chapter 23

O'Neill woke but didn't bother opening his eyes. He knew what he would see – the same yellow walls, the same blankness, the same large sky-light…he chuckled to himself. Sky-light…yeah right. If that were a sky-light then he'd be able to climb up to it. Or not. He was pretty sure that if he tried to stand one or both of his knees would give way. Plus he wasn't sure if he would even be able to keep his head up – Ba'al had been particularly vicious this last time, using daggers no more than an inch and a half long. Despite the only evidence being the rips in his clothes, O'Neill felt like every part of him was aching with a cold pain that only flared when he breathed too deeply. He wasn't sure how many times he'd been killed and resurrected by now, possibly on a par with Daniel and his little penchant for crawling into a sarcophagus, but he was sure that another day of this and he would crack. Ba'al wouldn't get any information out of him – that was a certainty – but he knew his limits. Iraq had taught him how far he could be pushed. Hathor's little symbiote had taught him what he could withstand. This…this was more than both. Either he told Ba'al what he wanted to know – which would all be lies - or he went mad – simple as that. O'Neill found himself praying that the sarcophagus got to him before the pain did.

"I go away and just look at the trouble you get into."

Cranking his eyes open, he looked up into a pair of bright cerulean eyes. The face attached to those eyes was so familiar, the expression on that face so annoyingly familiar that for a moment O'Neill wanted to yell at the man standing in front of him, all dressed in oatmeal and white.

"Hallucinating."

"Actually, Jack, you're dreaming and I wouldn't mind if you stopped."

Screwing his eyes shut, O'Neill rubbed at his face and looked again. This time there were two Daniel Jacksons, one dressed in fatigues. The second one was also wearing glasses, a bandanna and a slightly irate expression. This Daniel growled.

"Jack. Stop the dream. I don't want to watch this again anymore than you want to live it again." Daniel had to swallow hard to keep the pain from his voice as he looked at his friend. "Please, Jack. Think of something else."

"Can't. Stuck." He was exhausted. He vaguely heard the first Daniel talking about Ascension but the louder voice prevailed.

"Jack, I mean it. You have got to think of something else." Daniel snatched the bandanna off so he could run his fingers through his hair. "The other night, at your house, we got drunk. Remember?"

"Don' get drunk much."

With a sigh, Daniel replied, "No, no we don't. But we needed to at the time. Come on, Jack, work with me here."

Fastening his chocolate gaze upon his friends' face, O'Neill focused. It struck him that the second Daniel seemed more distinct than the first one. He looked from one to the other. Sensing what the problem was, Daniel raised a hand and swept it through his own head. The Ascended version of himself kept talking. O'Neill took in the 'Well?' expression.

"Right." He dragged himself to his feet, a little astonished when Daniel grabbed hold of him. "Okay, so this is real."

"Yup."

"But…" He looked at the other Daniel, his brow knotted. Daniel sighed.

"I'll explain in a minute. Right now I need you to let me take over."

"What?"

"Let me do the dreaming for the moment."

"Dreaming?"

Daniel wanted to pinch his nose but seeing as he was effectively holding O'Neill on his feet, he settled for sighing.

"Jack, I know you hate not being in control, but either you let go or I'll just override your mind."

O'Neill growled.

"I will not…"

With another sigh, Daniel exerted mental dominance and imagined that O'Neill was unconscious and that the pair of them were somewhere other than a cell in Ba'al's compound. Instantly O'Neill sagged and the surroundings changed to his office in the SGC. Propping O'Neill in a chair, Daniel looked around.

"Ianiis? Jianne?"

The two young people appeared in the doorway. Daniel waved them over.

"I'm going to grab some clothes. No," He held up a hand as Jianne opened his mouth. "It'll be better for him to have something normal to do when he comes round. He's going to be mad enough as it is when he realises what I just did."

Sure enough, O'Neill woke snarling.

"Daniel!"

"Jack." That mild tone again – sometimes O'Neill could really hate that mild tone.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Well, it's complicated but essentially we are dreaming." Daniel was flicking through his books. Jianne had assured him that as he had read each of them at least once, his subconscious mind would provide the details of whatever he looked for. He was skimming, looking for a particular entry, just to test the possibility. "The way it's been explained I think we've been drawn into a world made entirely from our subconscious, where we are supposed to live our happiest dreams."

"And?"

" Unfortunately, we," He turned to look at O'Neill then and smiled sadly, "Don't seem to have any."

"Is that why I've been having flashbacks?" O'Neill was stripping out of his Tok'ra clothes, tossing the now useless shirt to the side and grabbing the black tee-shirt provided. His voice was muffled as he pulled it over his head. "Have to say, the only good thing outta reliving that stuff is…oh yeah, nothing!"

"I'm aware of that. I haven't exactly been having fun either." The two men stared at each other a moment, each recognising the pain they each carried. As fast as the hostility had flared, it was gone. For a moment, the men shared words without speaking, each apologising for their temper without even moving. Jianne watched them, his face puzzled.

"Does your species have a mind-to-mind communication?"

Daniel turned to look at him.

"What?" Then he looked at O'Neill who shrugged. "Oh…that…no. It's just…well…we've known each other a while."

"Yeah, been through a lot." The drawl in Jack's voice made Daniel wince. "You know, the usual, torture, getting shot at, getting blown up, turned into robots, nearly dying…a lot…actually dying a few times…"

Daniel snapped the book shut and gave his friend an admonishing look. O'Neill just raised an eyebrow and finished, "But hey, we're alive now right?"

"Oh." Jianne's face fell and for once O'Neill was sorry he'd opened his big mouth.

"Sorry…I'm a little tense." When Daniel looked at him, O'Neill cocked an eyebrow and mouthed, "What?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Anyway…" He moved on. "We're able to control the dreams now because we actually know we're dreaming. Jianne and Ianiis here helped me to gain access to your dreams once they had explained the situation. From here we now need to gain access to…"

His voice trailed off and for a moment he paled.

"Gain access to…?" Jack was watching him. Swallowing hard, Daniel met his friend's gaze. O'Neill didn't like that expression – the one that said 'I have some news and I'm a little worried how you'll react'

"Spit it out, Daniel." The steeled looked in his eyes convinced the younger man that he couldn't hold back the information he had.

"Teal'c and Sam are alive." For a brief moment, Daniel wished he had a camera to capture the goofy look on O'Neill's face. Then he was moving as the shock hit the general a little hard after the recently remembered trauma. "Easy, Jack."

"Carter? So I didn't…" O'Neill allowed himself to be lowered into a chair, his eyes wide and bright.

"No. It was a replica, created by the machine that has us all enthralled. It was supposed to make us leave and stay away." Daniel's mouth briefly twitched. "Obviously it didn't work."

O'Neill wasn't sure whether that was sarcasm or wryness but at that moment he didn't really care. His team was alive. Strength flooded through him, his mind shucking off the pain and anger of the past month, his body preparing itself for the fight. Sensing the change, Daniel let go and backed up, watching the older man carefully. Across the room, the two young people were watching the humans warily.

"Right…I've had my spinach…let's get to work!" O'Neill stood up and slapped his hands together, rubbing his palms, his face set. Daniel rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the creeping smile. The two men grinned at each other while their new companions grew even more confused.


	24. Chapter 24

**Warning** - Some mild language, one expletive.

**Rating:** T for swearing

* * *

"Well, this looks familiar." O'Neill patted his pockets, automatically looking for weaponry. They were back in front of the Stargate on PX6-W358. Daniel looked around.

"Are you sure you were concentrating on finding Teal'c?"

"Yes." Glowering at the archaeologist, O'Neill also surveyed the area. Daniel just held his hands up and started wandering away.

"Daniel."

"Yes, Jack?"

"Wandering off started this whole thing, so let's not do the wandering thing."

"We're all ready in the machine, Jack…"

"Bah!" One finger pointed at Daniel. Sighing, the younger man tousled his hair in exasperation.

"Fine. We stick together." He came back to walk alongside the general. Despite the nature of what they were trying to do, something was starting to nag at him but he couldn't pin it down.

"So, how do we get T to listen to us?" O'Neill queried making Daniel loose his concentration. "I mean, if he's living in la-la land, how are we gonna get him believing that we're real and his life isn't?"

"I'm not sure." Daniel bit his lip. "I think we just have to reawaken his memories of reality but with this essentially being an unstable reality, we'll probably have to force him into a joint dream."

"Like you did me?"

"Like I did you."

O'Neill glanced at his companion.

"How the hell did you do that anyway?"

"Well, err, actually it wasn't that hard." Daniel looked a little like he really didn't want to answer the next question.

"Why?" O'Neill asked it anyway.

"Well, you do have the tendency to be easily distracted, Jack."

"Meaning?"

Daniel huffed slightly as he replied, "You weren't focusing on anything so it was easier to just…"

"Take control." O'Neill's voice was bland then his eyes glinted with mischief. "You know, I owe you for that."

Daniel just sighed as the grin spread over the general's face. Then they were both staring at the dark figure kneeling on the floor, a woman in his arms and lots of shining pieces scattered over the floor. They both broke into a run, each cataloguing the rather creepy familiarity of the little pieces of metal. They slowed to a standstill within a few feet of the couple on the ground.

O'Neill took a tentative step forward.

"T? Buddy?"

The big man gasped as if he had reached air after being underwater for too long. His team mates moved forward to catch him as his back arched, a spasm of pain rippling through his body.

"Teal'c! Teal'c, it's us!" Daniel caught sight of the body in Teal'c's lap and paled. "Jack!"

O'Neill's jaw rippled as he grit his teeth.

"Damn!" He moved round to look Teal'c in the eyes. "T! Teal'c! Listen to me! It's not real! It's not real!"

"Ishta…" The growl trickled from between lips pressed tight together. His eyes were blank as various expressions chased over his face. The two men looked at each other, wondering what to do.

"Jack, we have no choice." Daniel reached out and grabbed a handful of O'Neill's jacket. "We've got to move us to the SGC."

"How?" Dark eyes met light and O'Neill nodded. "Okay, you take the lead."

Daniel cleared his mind and began to build a picture of his office. He could feel O'Neill doing the same, reinforcing some of the details, adding to the depth of the memory. It was so different to when he had battled for control of the masses from the Replicator Carter – warmer somehow. Slowly the ground turned to stone, walls began to form around them. It was O'Neill who ruthlessly started to erase the image of Ishta's dead body from the picture. They heard the roar of rage but ignored it as Daniel added his strength against the machine, the Will. The machine didn't know how to cope with such steadfast determination and allowed them to break into Teal'c's dreams.

Blinking, Teal'c looked around him. He was surprised to find that he was sitting on the floor of Daniel's office. Looking up, the two men were watching him, concern on their faces.

"Daniel Jackson, General O'Neill." His voice rumbled the greeting as if nothing had happened. His friends exchanged smiles of relief.

"Hey T, you had us worried."

"Has there been an incident?" The Jaffa unfolded his body from the floor, standing tall and draping his hands behind his back. Daniel breathed out the worry he had been storing.

"Something like that…"

Teal'c looked from one man to the other.

"Perhaps I should be further informed…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What _is_ it with this place!"

Daniel looked around in astonishment.

"We all ended up at the same place, at the same time, but in our own realities. That's just…" He groped for a term and O'Neill supplied one.

"Freaky."

"I would have gone for startlingly coincidental, but freaky works."

Teal'c, used to this behaviour, merely raised an eyebrow.

"Should we not be seeking Colonel Carter?"

"Yeah." Daniel was still having issues with the whole separate people, separate lives, same place conjunction – they could tell by the way his eyes were bugging. O'Neill grabbed his jacket.

"Let's go, Danny-boy."

"Wha'?" Tugged along, Daniel got his momentum back under his own control. "Right. Yeah."

The three men fanned out as they headed into the forest. Intellectually, they knew that this was a dream and that there shouldn't be anything nasty hiding in the undergrowth. But they were also aware that this was not their dream but Carter's. With that in mind, they didn't want to be completely out of sight of each other – just in case.

Teal'c found her first. His shout had the other two men crashing through the plants, pieces of leaves flying around as their speed ripped them apart. They all stared at the blonde woman sitting cradling a body. Surprisingly it was Daniel who made the identification first and swore. When the other two looked at him, both with raised eyebrows, he nodded at the man on the floor.

"Martouf."

The heavy silence hit them all. O'Neill sighed.

"Ah, shit." It was heartfelt and obvious that he was wondering how to bring her into their world without making things worse. Daniel started to move but O'Neill stopped him.

"I'll go."

Daniel looked at him, nodded. O'Neill crouched down in front of Carter.

"Carter?"

Her aqua eyes were swimming with tears as she looked up. For a moment there was no recognition and the memory flash made O'Neill wince. Then she slowly realised who he was and surprise settled over face.

"Colonel O'Neill. What are you doing here?"

"We came to get you, Carter."

"We?" She looked round to where Teal'c and Daniel were standing. The former bowed slightly whilst the latter waved and said, "Hi."

She turned back to O'Neill.

"But, the High Council said no one else had been informed of this planet. I was going to contact the SGC after we got back…I have samples of plant life and there are some ruins…"

"Carter." Keeping his voice soft, O'Neill caught her gaze and held it. "Listen to me…I want you to tell me exactly where you are and what has happened."

She shook herself, emotion threatening to overwhelm her.

"Sam, please."

The sharp look she gave him was more the Carter he knew and he hoped that it was the first step. Slowly she explained that she and three Tok'ra had been surveying the planet, two of the team had vanished, the Jaffa had turned up and that was when the fire fight broke out. While she was talking, Daniel carefully moved round to her other side to help her stand and Teal'c took Martouf from her. She barely noticed that she wasn't sitting on the ground, the tears pouring down her face. When her eyes blazed, all three men jumped.

"They are dead. I must return to the Council and inform them that the Goa'uld are aware of this planet."

"Er…Sam?"

"Doctor Jackson." Carter's face turned toward Daniel but it wasn't her voice that spoke. "It is a pleasure to see you after so many months. And you, Teal'c of Chulak."

"It is an honour to once again meet with you, Jolinar of Malk-shur." As Teal'c inclined his head and Carter had her attention on him, O'Neill looked at Daniel and mouthed, 'Jolinar?'

Daniel responded with a pained expression and a small shrug. O'Neill shook his head in despair. Before Daniel could act, O'Neill stepped back and opened his big mouth.

"That's it! I am not living in this dream of yours, Carter! Why the hell you'd want to live a happy life as a Tok'ra is beyond me…after all the screw-ups those people have gotten us into over the years and you are running around inside of your own head, playing happy families with Jolinar and Marty?!"

Carter/Jolinar stood there and stared at him. Taking the fact she hadn't smacked him yet as a good sign, O'Neill continued.

"For crying out loud! Are you forgetting the time we all sat there trying to get you to talk to us after Jolinar died? Hours! Absolutely _hours_ and what happens? Cassie has to come in and start crying! Cassie! No, no, couldn't break down and cry on one of us could ya – gotta wait for that little girl to wander through."

Her eyes wide with shock, Carter/Jolinar boomed, "Stop this! Stop!"

"Or what!" O'Neill stepped in close, forcing her to back up a step, the intensity of his ire blazing from those deep brown eyes. "What are you gonna do? Nothing, that's what! And you know why? Because you are not Jolinar of Malk-shur. You are Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, SG-1, assigned to the SGC, part of the United States Air Force. And I am your commanding officer. And that, "He pointed at Daniel, "Is one of your team mates and dear friends. And that," He pointed again at Teal'c, "Is your other team-mate and also a dear friend."

Both Daniel and Teal'c were looking bemused and a little shocked at this outburst, but at least Daniel had some idea where this pent-up rage had come from. He laid a restraining hand on Teal'c's arm as he whispered, "Let him do this."

"So, get your damn head outta the clouds and get with the programme, Colonel! Ten-hut!" O'Neill snapped out his orders and to everyone's surprise, Carter snapped off a perfect, text book, salute. With a grin, O'Neill then barked, "Dismissed!"

As Carter assumed the dismissed posture, the blaze from her eyes faded, her face softened as the surprise and fear faded away and she blinked.

"Sir?"

"Welcome back, Carter."

She looked round and blinked at the other men.

"Daniel? Teal'c? What's happening?"

"I believe O'Neill and Daniel Jackson are better informed, Colonel Carter." Teal'c indicated his nearest companion and Carter directed her gaze at the younger man who was running his hands through his hair. Unable to help himself, Daniel walked up to her and hugged her. He stepped back and smiled.

"It's a long story."

She smiled at him, perplexed but willing to wait. He caught the general's wry expression and sympathy for the older man flashed across his face. O'Neill acknowledged the sentiment with a brief nod before slapping Carter on the back.

"Now that you're back with us, we got some explaining to do." He paused then added, "And Carter, do me a small favour for the next couple of hours."

"Sir?"

"Don't think."


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note:** I looked around a lot for confirmation regarding the naquadah signatures thing and found nothing, hence why I have made the supposition I have. If someone else has found something and it's SG1 canon...well...whoops! Sorry. But as far as I'm concerned for this story...Jack is clean.

* * *

The five of them sat at a table in the commissary - SG1 having chosen the site for the comfort of Jianne rather than intimidate him with the austerity of the breifing room. Daniel had explained the situation as best as he could and now it was up to Jianne to fill in the gaps. Carter was frowning all ready.

"So, the machine, the Will as you call it, scans all visitors that step through the 'Gate to find out whether they are friend or foe." When Jianne nodded, she continued. "So when we stepped through and reached the ruins, the Will detected the presence of something within myself and Teal'c that classified us as enemies. It must have been the naquadah traces in our blood."

"Err, what about Jack? After all, doesn't he have traces from Kanan?"

Carter and Teal'c looked at each other.

"I have never sensed anything from General O'Neill."

"Me either." Carter shrugged. "If the general had naquadah in his blood, we would have noticed."

"Well, that's a relief." O'Neill mumbled. Daniel ignored him.

"Plus, we didn't get separated like you two did." Daniel rubbed at his face. "Okay, so when we came back, after being chased away, the Will decided that we must be a threat and took us both."

"That still doesn't fully explain why the machine would react to the slightest presence of anything Goa'uld."

"Perhaps it does, Colonel Carter." Teal'c looked at each person in turn then fastened his gaze on Daniel. "It was Daniel Jackson who first suggested that this planet may have been under the purview of one of the Four Races."

Slamming a hand on the table, Daniel started sputtering, "Of course! The Four Races have always been against the Goa'uld. It would make sense for the Furlings to have left behind a defence mechanism to protect their people."

"And if the Will is designed to take in travellers that come through the Stargate, it's likely that there is another machine that would deal with anything that would threaten the planet from the air!" Carter grinned.

"We have a shield." Jianne proffered. "Again, it is not something we remember how to use."

O'Neill had been sitting back watching the show as the geeks and geniuses had waffled, but now he was interested.

"Jianne, what do you mean when you say that your people no longer remember how to work the machines?"

"Long ago, the Protectors came. They fought with our Overlords and banished them. They built the Great Will and Shield and told some of our people how to care for them. They told us that we would be safe from the Overlords forever and that one day they would return, but they had to leave as they were afraid their presence would put us is great danger."

"It is likely that the Furlings had battled with another race and were depleted. Leaving the…" Teal'c paused.

"We are called Servants or Guardians. But we call our home world Eiranah. It means 'Blessed Haven'."

"Thank you." Teal'c continued, "In leaving the Eiranans, it is likely that the Furlings believed they were protecting them from a greater threat."

"That is what we believe." Jianne was rubbing his hands together over and over in agitation. Smiling encouragingly, Carter reached across and put her hand over his. He glanced up at her.

"It's ok…we're listening."

"The Protectors left us, leaving some who knew how to care for the machines. But there was a great plague and many were killed. We lost the knowledge." The young man looked so forlorn. The team exchanged glances.

"Well…the Asgaard might know something…" Daniel murmured, only half paying attention as something niggled in the back of his mind, like something was missing.

"Wait a minute – let me get this straight." O'Neill ran his hands through his greying temples. "The Will grabs people and sticks them in their dreams, right? And you guys don't know how to stop it or make it change its mind, right?"

Jianne shook his head. O'Neill scowled.

"So how the hell are you gonna get us out of here?"

"By convincing it that you are all dead." Ianiis appeared. Gracefully she slid into a seat next to Jianne, who immediately took her hand in his. She smiled at the team. "Which is all ready working."

"How?"

"Well, Colonel Carter, your brain patterns are not those of someone in the dream state that the Will applies. Because you are all in the same dream, it appears that you are all failing."

"And once someone dies, the Will releases them."

She smiled at Daniel.

"Exactly."

"Aren't you going to get into a lot of trouble for this?" O'Neill looked at them both sternly.

The young people looked at each other.

"We are not alone in believing that the Will must be challenged. Studying those caught in it has provided us with no answers and it will not allow our people to become enthralled by it. We have no other way. Either we challenge it now and perhaps find what we seek or…"

"Or you leave it as it is and watch your people die out." Daniel had taken his glasses off as he thought. Now he looked round, his eyes bright. "We have to do something."

The team sat back and looked at each other. The silence dragged on. They looked at each other some more. Finally O'Neill snapped.

"Oh hell…can't we just get outta this and send Daniel in to the guys in charge to talk 'em all to death about it?"

"Jack." There was that disapproving face again.

"What?" O'Neill shook his head. "Look, we can't do anything for these guys until we get outta here. We can't get outta here until the machine thinks we're dead. So…anyone else seeing the problem here?"

"Please, General. We are trying to adjust the readings as fast as we can…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The petulant tone in his voice and the way he rolled his eyes made Carter smile. His attention was on her instantly. He didn't look directly at her but she knew that he was watching her. In fact, he had been the entire time they had been discussing the situation. It made her wonder what had happened. Making a mental note to ask him when they got back to the SGC, Carter had a thought.

"Jianne, Ianiis, what would happen to the readings if one of us got shot by a zat within the dream?"

The two Eiranans looked at each other.

"We're not sure. It would disrupt all of your readings, of that we are sure. But we don't know if it would be enough."

"You said to me that I was drugged, Jianne. So could a zat blast in here coupled with an adjustment in the dosage be enough?" Daniel was looking at Carter and they seemed to be working off the same hymn sheet. Suddenly, Ianiis caught on, Jianne not too far behind.

"Yes!" They squeaked.

The team flinched as Jianne vanished. Ianiis looked at them all apologetically.

"He is going to make the adjustments. He'll let me know once he is ready."

"Right…" O'Neill drawled. "So, which one of us is getting zatted…again?"


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note:** Please, gals, no loud squeeing at the hinted state of dress...or, if you must, please wait for the rest of us to get cotton wool in our ears /grin/

* * *

He woke and was instantly shivering. Blinking rapidly, his vision gradually cleared enough that he started to make out what appeared to be a huge cavern. Trying to command his arms and legs, he found that his limbs were heavy as if frozen and he could feel a prickling sensation across his chest as if something heavy had just been removed. Squinting, searching for something of any familiarity, he looked round and had a momentary flash of panic when the shadows nearest to him began to move. Memories of dark vines wrapping around his body and dragging him down swept through his mind – he flinched away from the shadows, almost tumbling to the floor. Two pairs of hands grabbed onto him, pulling him back up, a voice calling softly, "Daniel!"

"Jack?" Blinking some more in the pale light, Daniel made out the faces of O'Neill and Teal'c above him. "Teal'c, hey. Get me up."

"Take it easy, Danny. You're gonna be wobbly."

Looking down at himself, Daniel realised something else.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna be cold too."

O'Neill handed him what looked like a thermal blanket. Teal'c kept hold of his shoulders while he wrapped it round his waist, noting that the other men were also sporting the same new outfit.

"I can't see a thing beyond this bed."

"That makes three of us – but at least for me and Teal'c it won't be permanent." O'Neill looked round, ignoring the frown that crossed his friend's face at the jibe. "Really, be a great place for a Goa'uld-infested Unas to hang out."

Sighing Daniel responded, "And there I was hoping that perhaps this experience might subdue your rather dubious sense of humour."

"Aw, Daniel, even after all this, you're just so damned optimistic."

They just smiled at each other, their relief apparent, the joking lacking its usual acerbic undertones. Teal'c resisted the urge to shake his head at the younger men, tensing as he sensed something coming. Jianne appeared out of the dark, carrying a large bundle of clothes and equipment.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here immediately. You will find some of your items missing – we realised that Teal'c required something more than the nutrients the Will provides and added it to the dosage." As Teal'c gave a little bow in acknowledgement, Jianne tried to sort through the items and ended up dropping half of them. The men just started grabbing their own stuff, dressing quickly as goose bumps appeared on their skin. As they started to haul their kit on, Jianne handed each of them a small pin.

"Place these on your clothes. They will allow you access to any exit you can reach. They have an inbuilt map which will bleep to let you know where you are, a form of tracking system..."

"Jackson!"

O'Neill's head snapped up and he swore. Daniel's face was aghast.

"We forgot Jackson!"

"I'm sure he'll be fine – SG-4 probably got hold of him and took him home. We'll be back soon enough." The weight of his friend's hand on his shoulder soothed Daniel enough for him to take a deep breath and nod.

"Let's get out of here…"

Jianne led them to the main door. Just the other side, Carter was waiting for them.

"Guys and gals closets huh?"

Blushing, Carter kept her gaze down.

"Seems that way, sir."

Satisfied, finally feeling whole again, O'Neill looked round at his team.

"Okay kids, move out."

Jianne stayed with them, doing his best to guide them away from populated areas of the complex. He warned them that they would have to use an exit into the forest, rather than a transportation beam, because security would notice the activation. As the five of them slunk from cover to new cover, Carter crept close to Daniel, her instincts telling her that there was something he was hiding and the soldier in her warning her it might be a distraction if things hit the fan.

"What really happened?" She whispered.

"What?"

"What happened? It's bothering you and I'm worried." She caught the flash of defeat on his face and wondered at it. When he looked at her, the grief and relief in his eyes was a strange enough mix that she almost wished she hadn't asked.

"Ask me when we get home. Then…" He stopped.

"Then what?" She caught at his arm, stopping him from moving on. "Daniel?"

He threw a tortured glance at the backs of their team mates and sighed.

"Sam…you'll have to ask Jack. It's not my tale to tell."

He broke away, leaving her wondering just what the pair of them had gone through without her.

"You should see this."

"How have they managed to leave their dreams?"

"Two of our young ones have helped them to escape."

"I thought that was impossible."

"So did I. But apparently not. Between them, they have found a way to trick the Will into releasing four of the subjects."

"That shouldn't happen."

"Well, it seems that whilst it shouldn't, it now has."

"This needs to be dealt with immediately. We cannot have subjects wandering around like this. I shall send a security team to intercept them."

"No…I shall pursue them myself. I want to question them personally."

"About what?"

"About everything."

Every corridor looked exactly like the last – long, dark, cold. It was getting hard to keep track of where they were going and harder still to remember where they had come from. Every so often, O'Neill would tap Jianne on the arm and ask where they were going. Every time Jianne would reply, "Exit."

By the time O'Neill's internal clock had told him they had been wandering around for an hour, he'd had enough. By the looks of his team, so had they.

"Jianne, we need to stop. Just for a bit."

The panic in the young males' eyes was concerning but his brief smile said otherwise.

"Of course."

Turning back, O'Neill signalled a rest break. Teal'c gratefully slid to the floor and the team looked at him.

"T? You okay?"

"I merely require my Tretonin, O'Neill."

All three humans started patting down their jackets. Teal'c just looked at them. Slowly they all looked back at him and as O'Neill kept a straight face, Carter tried to hide a smirk and Daniel coughed.

"You got some, coz I think I left my spares back in the forest the first time we came…"

"Indeed." The level of disapproval was accented by the angle of that right eyebrow. It was enough to dissolve the two youngest members of the team into giggles fuelled by nervous relief. O'Neill matched gazes with his brother-at-arms, a small smile just whispering over his lips. He was gratified to see a similar expression on Teal'c's face – no harm done. Plus, by the looks of Carter and Daniel, the mood had not only been lifted but had energised them for the next part of the trek. Teal'c gave himself a shot before the team started off again. Unfortunately they didn't get far.

"Halt!"

"Damn!" The team ducked behind the nearest cover. O'Neill peeked out to see where the shout came from.

"Carter – head count!"

"Count eight, sir, all armed."

"Please! They are my people!"

"Jianne, they are not putting us back in that machine of yours. Not happening." Turning, O'Neill caught Daniel's eye. "Can you get the map in these pins to work?"

"Uh…I'll try…" Daniel started work on deciphering the map layout that hovered above his palm. "I think we need to go to the end of this corridor…"

"What, the corridor with the armed men in it?"

"Whoops." He tried again. "Okay, straight across, first left. I think."

"You think?"

"Surprisingly, Jack, I don't know the directions around this building from a two second study of a 3D model that I don't know how to control or read properly!" The two men glowered at each other briefly before Daniel, to the surprise of Carter and Tea'c's eyebrow, poked his tongue out at Jack. O'Neill pulled a face back at him. Carter looked between the two of them and again wondered what they had gone through while she and Teal'c had been gone.

"Okay, campers…let's move!"

With that, the five of them slunk away down the dark halls, following the directions Daniel had provided and hoping that the security force would be patient. But after a few moments, it became obvious that they were being chased.

Jianne took off, SG-1 close behind. He led them on a winding route, dodging through corridors and in and out of large rooms wherever he could in an attempt to confuse their pursuers. When the five of them ran into one large chamber and found Ianiis standing in the middle of the room, a rather large man holding her by the upper arms and what looked like a small battalion of security guards, SG-1 very carefully raised their hands in surrender.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note:** The penultimate chapter...and another apology for taking so long to post this up! What can I say? Life has not been very helpful as far as dealing with all things prose-based of late. I hope this chapter does, in some way, make up for the wait. Thanks for all your patience.

**

* * *

**

"Jianne." The large man rumbled. "Ianiis has been telling me that she asked you to help her free these people. Is that true?"

"Yes, Guardian Helisk." The young man was shaking. Without thinking about it, the team stepped in and flanked him, the movement not going unnoticed.

"And you have made new friends of them, I see." The man addressed as Guardian Helisk looked from one to the other, his eyes resting upon O'Neill as he nodded in subtle recognition of his leadership.

"Well," O'Neill drawled, staring back challengingly. "We kinda tend to like the people who don't wanna tie us up or keep us locked up or turn us into an experiment…"

Both Carter and Daniel winced.

"Is that what you believe was happening here?"

"For the most part…unless you got some better, higher, grander explanation for why we were hooked up to some machine that gets into our heads, rummages around for a while, picks out the nice little memories marked with _huge_ signs saying 'Warning-May Cause Headaches, Brain Bleeds, Nausea and a Desperate Desire to Eat Tarmac' before displaying said memories on a big screen in full technicolour delight with yourself as the starring role?"

Sarcasm almost dripped from every word, all the fury and pain from reliving his memories dancing in his eyes. Having dropped his hands in order to add all-encompassing gestures to his tirade, O'Neill was trying to stop his fingers from grabbing for his weapon. The small twitches were noticed...

"Sir?" Her voice was soft, pitched for him alone.

"Carter?"

"May I suggest that we don't start a fight we can't win?"

There was a slight sound of agreement from the other members of the team. O'Neill subsided, grousing, "Would make me feel better."

"Maybe later, Popeye." Daniel muttered the words but the look O'Neill gave him promised retribution. Carter caught Daniel's eye.

"Popeye?" She mouthed. He gave her a look that said, 'Never mind.'.

Helisk sighed. He dropped his hands from their hold upon the young woman and turned to the armed force behind him.

"Go. I will not be needing you." He watched them leave before turning back to three suspicious faces and two rather scared ones.

"I see there is much I must explain. Please, be seated." He waved a hand and a large table, with seven chairs appeared. Seeing the expressions, he chuckled. "You are no longer in the Will. This was as I wanted it to be – if there had been less of us, there would have been fewer chairs transported in."

Warily, the team seated themselves, letting Jianne pick first then positioning themselves to cover both him and each other. Once they were comfortable, Helisk sighed heavily, his expression clearly indicating he knew exactly what they had done.

"I want to apologise." He began. "I have long been searching for a way that my people might live without need of the Will. I teach our young ones to take our places, weaving the thread of such revolution into my teaching gently, quietly, where only those with the most open of mind might find it. It seems that, in my efforts, I may have been a little too successful at it. If I had realised my students had learnt my lessons so well…"

"Guardian, is this not what you wanted us to do?" Ianiis asked, her grey eyes appealing for understanding. "To save those who should not be here and free them to live their lives in the true world rather than such meaningless facsimile?"

"Yes, my dear – this is what I taught you. But not to try and accomplish on your own. You have both learnt far too well." The older man slumped a little, his mind whirling in thought. "It will be hard to convince the Council not to punish you. Possibly years of study lost, you have betrayed your people, deliberately sabotaged the Will…they will not take this lightly. All three of us are at great risk."

"But we had to! They were not dreaming as the Will dictates they should." Jianne broke in, his arm firmly around the younger woman. He opened his mouth to protest further.

"And we are supposed to obey the Will and leave them be!" Helisk cut the younger man off, sighing. "This was eventual but I was hoping to have more time to convince the others that the Will was no longer something we can afford to rely on. You may have endangered everything."

Having listened not only to the words spoken but the emotions and intent behind them, Daniel stuck his hand in the air and waved it to get everyone's attention.

"'Scuse me but they actually did a really good thing – not just for us," He indicated the team then the Eiranians. "But for your people as well."

"How so?"

"Jianne and Ianiis told us that long ago your planet was protected, that you only ever knew the race who cared for you as the Protectors." Daniel paused only long enough to get an affirmative grunt. "Well, we – as in _my_ people – are friends with a race who not only knew your Protectors but were allied with them."

"You do?" Helisk looked at him in shock, his expression mirrored in the faces of his students.

"Sure!" O'Neill leant back in his chair, a wide grin spreading across his face as _something_ finally began to fall into place. "We can give Thor a call and have the old buddy drop by and help you out. He owes us a few favours…again."

"Now?" Helisk looked eager. His students were both showing that fresh-faced interest that even Daniel recognised as an echo of himself. O'Neill couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, no, not right this minute…we'd need to go home first because the phone just doesn't get the right signal when we're off-world."

"What the General means is that all the information for contacting the Asgaard is on our home world." Carter was starting to feel a little like someone had stuffed cotton wool in her head. Her eyes were showing the strain of keeping the conversation at the centre of her attention and she felt like she had been wrung out like a wet rag, although she couldn't understand why.

"Carter? You okay?" The level of concern in his voice was enough to make her shake it off, her aqua eyes searching for his dark ones.

"I'm fine." _What happened, sir?_ Her eyes asked him.

"If you're not, you say something immediately." _It's complicated but I'm glad to see you._

"Yes sir, I will." _I know it hurt, whatever it was._

"Carry on, Colonel Carter." _It did but I'm never going to admit it_

Daniel had noticed the silent exchange and had warned Teal'c with a look to leave it be. Teal'c kept his eye on the three Eiranians instead, who were watching the team carefully. Both Carter and O'Neill had realised what had passed, each directing grateful glances at their friends which were reciprocated. His eyes wide in glee at this exhibition of understanding, Jianne turned to his mentor, nearly knocking Helisk in the face with a flying hand as he pointed at SG-1.

"See! See! They speak to one another without voice or discernible expression. But they are not dreaming or of blood! It is a magic!"

The team looked at him. After everything they had been through, that one comment backed as it was with such stark and giddy happiness was enough. They all looked each other, relief blossoming deep in their chests, and as a slow smile spread across Teal'c's face, the other three started to laugh.

"See!" Jianne grinned brightly, Ianniis blinking back tears, and Helisk too began to chuckle.

"I believe that the Will may have met its match in you, new friends." He rumbled, his tone indicating that he wasn't sorry for that at all. Shaking his head to sober up, O'Neill smiled.

"Helisk, I can honestly say that many have thought they had the better of us. But so far, we just keep coming back."

Daniel coughed, and managed to splutter, "Yeah, we're boomerangs!"

That really set Carter off. O'Neill stared at him in shock.

"That's my line, space monkey!"

Daniel just looked at him. O'Neill shrugged.

"Well, after what we've been through, I guess I can let it go."

They grinned at each other. Then, once everyone had calmed down, Daniel began the very serious business of bargaining their way home in exchange for calling the Asgaard.


	28. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

The call echoed through the corridors. As armed personnel sprinted past her, Doctor Brightman weaved her way to the command room.

"What's happening?"

Harriman didn't even glance up.

"No one is due back for another six hours. We're not getting…wait, IDC coming through."

The shock on his face was apparent for everyone to see. Brightman shifted to see the computer screen.

"Good God!" She breathed and Harriman snapped out of it.

"Opening the Iris, all units stand down!"

Brightman ran for the phone, dialling the Infirmary.

"Get Jackson up here, stat!" She slammed the phone down and dashed down to the Gateroom.

On the ramp, the four members of SG-1 were standing grinning. Everyone was staring at them.

"Did I forget to shave this morning?"

"No sir."

"Is there mud on my face?"

"I believe there is not, O'Neill."

"Have we just come back from the dead?"

"Well, Jack…it wouldn't be the first time…."

Brightman halted in front of them. Staring at them, she wanted to cry in relief. Instead she opened her mouth and started barking instructions.

"SG-1, I am expecting you in the Infirmary for post-mission evaluations within the next hour. And I don't want a single argument from any of you. We have no idea what you might have in your systems and I want to do a complete work-up to be sure that you are all perfectly healthy."

Daniel, O'Neill and Carter all looked at each other.

"Wow."

"Sounded just like our little Napoleon."

"Janet would be impressed."

"Indeed."

Just then a blur of motion smashed into Daniel, knocking him to the floor. The breath whooshed out of him and he stared up into a pair of relieved golden eyes.

"Hey Jackson. Sorry I scared you."

The Wulf proceeded to greet each member thoroughly, his tail wagging so hard and fast Brightman thought she might have to tape it back on. Finally he threw himself on the floor and begged the humans to fuss him. That's when the shouting and cheering started up. From the command room, Harriman called out what everyone was thinking:

"Welcome home, SG-1!"

* * *

"Sir!"

O'Neill looked up to see Carter chasing after him. He slowed down, letting her catch up.

"Carter."

"Done your medical?"

"On the way now. Damn, but I missed my morning coffee." He eyed the empty mug in his hand ruefully. Carter took a deep breath.

"Sir, I asked Daniel what happened."

O'Neill stiffened.

"Oh."

"He said I should ask you, sir."

"Did he." She could barely see his face so she took an extra step so she could block his way. Facing him, she looked into his eyes. That intent concern on her face made him sigh.

"Carter…Sam…" He met her gaze for a moment then looked away. She wanted to touch his face, to make him look at her. But she waited for him to meet her eyes again and continue.

"The replicas of you and Teal'c – they attacked us and SG-4. They had to be taken down."

The pain in his eyes was enough – he tried to hide it, as he always did, but she could see it. Carter's face softened.

"I understand." _I really do._

"It wasn't you, so it's fine." _Don't ask any more_. "So, you remember anything?"

"Nothing. I know I was happy, content, but more detail of before you, Daniel and Teal'c came and got me, I just don't remember."

"That's great. Teal'c's the same." _I'm glad because there was bad_. His face told her. And with her eyes she told him that everything was all right now.

O'Neill nodded down the corridor.

"I'm gonna be late." He stepped round her, smiling. "See ya later, Carter."

"Yes sir." And she watched him walk away, knowing that he had gone through hell. And knowing him, there was no way in hell he would ever tell her.

* * *

"Jack!"

The figure kept walking.

"Hey Jack!"

One foot briefly hesitated then the figure shook his greying head and pushed on.

"Jack!"

"Oh for crying out loud. Now what?!" O'Neill turned to glower at Daniel. The younger man paused and eyed his friend warily.

"I just thought you'd like to know that the Asgaard have contacted the Eiranians. They're confident they can teach the Guardians to use the Will to scan for hostile intentions before chasing them off-world so what happened with us shouldn't happen again. We've also got open invitations to go back as honoured guests."

"Hmmm…maybe later in the year." O'Neill eyed the jeans, tee and jacket Daniel was wearing.

"Heading home?"

"Yeah. I figured that I could do with a break from letting my mind run riot, especially after this mission." Daniel smiled and nodded at the generals' own civilian dress. "You?"

"Yup. My first full nights sleep in five weeks is sounding good right now."

They turned and started to walk to the elevator.

"How long were we gone?"

"Apparently, we were missing for four days. General Hammond ordered a search but all they found were signs of a scuffle. And my glasses."

"Carter says she doesn't remember anything. Teal'c neither."

"That's good."

"Can't work out why I do."

"Probably because we actually broke out ourselves. I'm not sure – we'd have to ask Ianiis or Jianne on that one."

"Maybe when they know how to work that thing. And, well, probably for the best anyways, right. For their sakes." O'Neill glanced at the younger man and Daniel nodded.

"I didn't tell Sam anything." The admission was quiet.

"I know. She asked me."

"Did you tell her?"

The silence was all the answer he needed. Daniel looked up at his friend and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"I've got a fridge full of food."

O'Neill smiled. "And I've got beer."

"Sir, do you ever not have beer?"

They turned to see Carter and Teal'c catching up.

"Well now, Carter, what would my fridge be without beer?"

"Very empty, O'Neill." There was a flash of humour across that stoic Jaffa face. His own expression mirthful, Daniel fastened his cobalt eyes on the older man's face.

"So, mine or yours?"

"Mine…we'll grab the food from yours on the way." Laughter lines had started to sneak their way in around O'Neill's chocolate eyes.

The four of them piled into the elevator. Just as the doors closed, another figure started to slink in, making the doors spring apart.

"Hey mutt. Coming along for the ride?"

Jackson looked up at his Partner and the rest of his pack and wolf-grinned. The doors started to close again and they all heard a voice shouting, "General, sir! General!"

"You going to answer that?" Daniel asked it but the other two looked at O'Neill questioningly.

"Nope."

"Why not, sir?"

"Because, kids, I am having a good day."

With that, O'Neill's face broke into a satisfied grin. As the elevator started on its way up, the airman who had been running after the general swore he could hear laughter drifting through the doors, a light bark and a deeply rumbled "Indeed."

* * *

There you are, ladies and gents - tis all done. Please let me know what you thought of this - the first of my SG fics I've ever written. Thank you all for reading! 


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